The commitment follows a recent meeting between POSCO Group CEO Jeong-woo Choi and Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia, at Parliament House in Canberra. The majority of the investment (US$28bn) is earmarked for renewable energy and water electrolysis, with US$12bn allocated to green steel production. 

CEO Choi said the group has declared carbon neutrality by 2050, in response to climate change, and has been concentrating efforts in developing hydrogen reduction iron and steel making to emit water instead of carbon dioxide (CO2).

He said, “We see Australia as the most important country in terms of investment for us to secure hydrogen which is essential for hydrogen steel manufacturing. We plan to increase our investments in not only raw material for steel making but also across various fields in Australia including renewable energy, hydrogen and green steel.”

Specifically, the POSCO Group is planning to manufacture green hydrogen based on large-scale and competitive renewable energy sources such as sunlight and wind power and using this green hydrogen to manufacture hot briquetted iron (HBI).

The POSCO Group has invested over KRW4trn in Australia for the development of resources such as iron ore, lithium and nickel and praised Australia as an optimum country for the development of green hydrogen overseas due to its land availability, abundant sunlight and wind resources along with progressive laws and systems.