Austrian steelmaker voestalpine AG has announced that it has recently obtained approval from the government of Upper Austria as the responsible EIA authority for the construction of the world’s largest pilot plant of its type for CO2-free production of hydrogen at the site in Linz, as part of H2FUTURE research project funded by the EU. Together with five project partners, voestalpine is laying the foundations for further pioneering research into de-carbonizing the steel manufacturing process.
According to voestalpine, gaining official approval is the starting signal for building the new hydrogen electrolysis plant at the voestalpine premises in Linz. This will be the largest and most advanced plant of its type for generating "green", i.e. CO2-free, hydrogen. With €18 million in EU funding, the project will conduct research which explores, amongst others, the potential use of hydrogen in the individual stages of steel production.
Wolfgang Eder, chairman of the management board of voestalpine AG, stated that the long-term goal is to move away from coal and coke, via bridging technology based on natural gas (e.g. in the direct reduction plant in Texas), to use "green" hydrogen in the production process.
The H2FUTURE project consortium consists of voestalpine, Austria's largest electricity provider VERBUND, and Germany-based industrial manufacturing company Siemens, as well as the Austrian Power Grid (APG), Austria's leading electricity transporter, together with scientific partners K1-MET (Metallurgical Competence Center) and ECN (Energy research Centre of the Netherlands). The project is funded as part of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program (Joint Undertaking Fuel Cells and Hydrogen) through to 2021.