The announcement comes after the funding was approved by the European Commission, with the hope that the company will construct a demonstration plant to produce steel with hydrogen instead of natural gas.
Direct reduced iron (DRI), often called sponge iron, will be produced at ArcelorMittal’s Hamburg site with hydrogen, and serve as a preliminary product for subsequent steel production.
The company has estimated that the conversion of the entire site could save approximately 700,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year in the future.
Reiner Blaschek, CEO of ArcelorMittal Germany said the Commission approval of the funding gave the company the opportunity to plan its next steps for decarbonising its German operations.
“The decarbonisation of steel production is one of the most important cornerstones for achieving the climate goals in Europe,” said Blaschek.
Earlier this week (February 20), the European Commission approved a €460m ($491.5m) Spanish grant to support ArcelorMittal España to decarbonise its steel production in Gijón, Spain, using hydrogen.
In May 2020, ArcelorMittal and the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg) announced they were jointly researching hydrogen-based steel production.
Read more: ArcelorMittal and HAW Hamburg research hydrogen-based steel production
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