The technology transition, as the basis for the production of steel with reduced CO2 emissions through to steel production with net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, poses major challenges for the entire European steel industry. voestalpine presented greentec steel in 2022 as its ambitious phased plan for green steel production. The existing blast furnace routes in Linz and Donawitz will be partially replaced by one green electricity-powered electric arc furnace at each site as a first step from 2027. This will reduce CO2 emissions at the two sites by 30% compared to 2019. A further blast furnace at each of the sites in Linz and Donawitz are scheduled to be replaced from 2030.
The aim is to ensure that even after the conversion of the production routes in Linz and Donawitz to electric steelworks, all of the high-quality and sophisticated steel grades can continue to be produced as before in order to continue to meet customer expectations as effectively as possible.
The most important input materials in an electric arc furnace are scrap and sponge iron. Scrap is available in limited quantities and comes with unwanted companion elements. Ongoing R&D projects involve voestalpine working on producing high-quality steel products from the available scrap. On the one hand, methods of smart scrap sorting are being developed in order to improve scrap quality, while on the other, numerous test melts are being used to investigate how the metallurgy needs to be adapted in order to guarantee the usual material and processing properties of the product. Smart methods such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are providing support here. In order to achieve the goal of net zero emissions by 2050, new technologies are being researched in the medium term where hydrogen is proving to be a promising option.
The test program at the hydrogen electrolysis plant as part of the H2FUTURE project was successfully completed at the end of 2022. In addition to producing green hydrogen, the electrolysis plant provides grid services through its participation in the balancing energy market.
The H2FUTURE Follow-up project subsequent to this was launched in the reporting year and includes the planning, installation, and operation of a system for compressing and purifying the hydrogen produced in the PEM electrolyser. Commissioning is planned for mid-2025. This hydrogen can be used to supply R&D pilot plants for steel production, for example.
voestalpine is involved in the Carbon Cycle Economy Demonstration cooperation project, which aims to demonstrate a closed CO2 cycle with the help of sector coupling. voestalpine is also a partner in the Underground Sun Storage project, which is investigating underground seasonal storage for hydrogen.
This makes H2FUTURE Follow-up a key project for the Upper Austrian government’s Hydrogen Campaign 2030. The HYFOR (hydrogen-based fine-ore reduction) research project is developing the hydrogen-based reduction of low-grade fine ores—a breakthrough technology from Primetals Technologies. The applicability of the process in batch operation was successfully demonstrated at the Donawitz site during the reporting period. During the reporting period, the SuSteel (Sustainable Steelmaking) basic research project demonstrated the technical feasibility of producing crude steel directly from iron ore using hydrogen plasma.