At its steel facility in Contrecoeur, Quebec, ArcelorMittal successfully tested the use of green hydrogen in the manufacture of direct reduced iron (“DRI”).
ArcelorMittal’s objective is to lead the steel industry’s decarbonization, and this test marks a significant step forward in the company’s quest to make zero-carbon steel utilizing green hydrogen as an input via the DRI-based steelmaking approach.
The goal of the experiment was to see if green hydrogen could be used instead of natural gas in the iron ore reduction process. During the first test, 6.8% of natural gas was replaced with green hydrogen over a 24-hour period, resulting in measurable CO2 emissions reduction.
The green hydrogen used in the test was generated by a third-party electrolyzer (a device that generates green hydrogen from electricity and water) and transferred to Contrecoeur. This is a significant step forward because the iron ore reduction process accounts for over 75% of ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada’s (“AMLPC”) overall CO2 emissions.
AMLPC is considering conducting more experiments in the future months by expanding the usage of green hydrogen at the DRI facility, which may cut CO2 emissions in Contrecoeur by hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year. The usage of electrolyzers to manufacture green hydrogen in Contrecoeur is contingent on a number of factors, including the availability of enough electricity to operate the units.
François Perras, President, and CEO of AMLPC, welcomed the ArcelorMittal team on this significant step forward in the manufacture of low-CO2 steel:
“We’ve recently proved that by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, Quebec can become a global leader in the manufacture of low-CO2 steel.”
On a worldwide scale, ArcelorMittal plans to cut CO2 emissions intensity by 25% by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
