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Case Study
Hydrogen use in Steel: Tata Steel, the
Netherlands
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Case study: H2 in Steel | Climate Solutions 8/9/22 14(40
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Case study: H2 in Steel | Climate Solutions 8/9/22 14(40
Electricity must thus come from a renewable source and hydrogen needs to have a carbon
footprint as close as possible to 0 gCO2/gH2 [x].
Green H2
+ Does not need carbon capture and storage infrastructure.
Potential lowest climate footprint of any technology. GHG emissions are very close
to zero when using exclusively renewable electricity.
21 TWh of renewable electricity required is greater than all current Dutch wind
generation
Blue H2
+ Contained electricity demand & reduced wait for green H2 at scale
GHG emissions are very low dependent on high capture rate, permanent storage,
and low methane leakage
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Case study: H2 in Steel | Climate Solutions 8/9/22 14(40
depend on the process itself, as well as the leakage rate of methane in the extraction and
transport phases. For the Midrex process, a common gas DRI technology, emissions are around
1.1 – 1.2 kg CO2/kg steel [xii], thus lower than the more common blast furnace process, whose
emissions lie between 1.6 and 2.0 kg CO2/kg steel. Blast furnaces cannot be retrofitted to work
with the Midrex process, therefore newly built plants are needed if a technological change is
envisaged.
What are the pros and cons of using fossil gas for steelmaking?
Allows for a cut in emissions when compared to current Blast Furnace, dependent on low methane
leakage
+
Can be converted to hydrogen
- Commercially available technology in use since 1970s
Not a net-zero technology. Steel produced is neither green nor low carbon
Continuation of natural gas extraction and use
Will need to be converted to low-carbon hydrogen to reach low/zero emissions
Risk locking in emitting technology if the hydrogen for the reconversion is not
made available
Performance
categories
Technologies
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Case study: H2 in Steel | Climate Solutions 8/9/22 14(40
[i] Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. 2022. Urgenda Foundation v. State of the Netherlands. Available at: http://climatecasechart.com/climate-change-litigation/non-us-case/urgenda-foundation-v-
kingdom-of-the-netherlands/
[ii] Tata Steel. 2020. Tata Steel in Europe Sustainability Report 2019/2020. Available at: https://www.tatasteeleurope.com/sites/default/files/TSE%20Sustainability%20report%202019-20%20(EN).pdf
[iii] The LKAB-SSAB process uses high fine iron ore concentrate containing more than 71 per cent iron resulting in higher efficiency and lower energy requirements than with more traditional iron ores.
[iv] Own calculations using data from Kushnir et al. (2020), available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652619330550
[v] 15.3 TWh, IEA data
[vi] Gemini. 2022. About Gemini Wind Park. Available at: https://www.geminiwindpark.nl/about-gemini-wind-park.html
[vii] Government of the Netherlands. 2022. Offshore Wind Energy. Available at: https://www.government.nl/topics/renewable-energy/offshore-wind-energy
[viii] Own calculations using data from Al-Qahtani et al. (2021), available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261920314136
[ix] Own calculations using data from Al-Qahtani et al. (2021), available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261920314136
[x] Currently the threshold in the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy is set at 3 gCO2/gH2.
[xi] Midrex. 2019. 2018 World Direct Reduction Statistics. Available at: https://www.midrex.com/wp-content/uploads/Midrex_STATSbookprint_2018Final-1.pdf
[xii] Midrex. 2020. Direct from Midrex: First Quarter 2020. Available at: https://www.midrex.com/wp-content/uploads/Midrex-2020-DFM1QTR-Final.pdf
[xiii] Own calculations using data from IIP (2022) for Midrex technology, available at: http://www.iipinetwork.org/wp-content/Ietd/content/direct-reduced-iron.html
[xiv] Midrex. 2020. Direct from Midrex: First Quarter 2020. Available at: https://www.midrex.com/wp-content/uploads/Midrex-2020-DFM1QTR-Final.pdf
[xv] Upstream methane leakage of 0.03% and Dutch transport leakage of 0.01% at GWP100
[xvi] 328gCO2/KWh in 2020, source EEA.
[xvii] The global warming potential is expressed in GWP 100. If GWP 20 is considered this figure increases to 84 times.
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