UK-based plantmaker Primetals Technologies, in collaboration with Rio Tinto, Mitsubishi and Voestalpine, has announced the start of construction of the Hy4Smelt demonstration plant at Voestalpine’s Linz site in Austria. The facility, with a capacity of three metric tons per hour, is scheduled to become operational by late 2027.
"Seeing construction underway of the globally unique Hy4Smelt demonstration plant once again confirms our technological and innovation leadership in green steel production,” stated Herbert Eibensteiner, CEO of Voestalpine AG, while Dr. Alexander Fleischanderl, chief technology officer and head of green steel at Primetals Technologies, expressed the urgency of green transformation in the steel sector, underlining the importance of the new demonstration plant.
The partnership between the companies was announced in April this year, as previously reported by SteelOrbis. The new plant will use Primetals’ HYFOR and Smelter technologies to produce hot briquetted iron, hot metal and pig iron with net-zero carbon emissions.