Orsted In Gigawatt-Scale Offshore Wind To Green Hydrogen Plan With Steel Giant ArcelorMittal
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Recharge.
The title says a lot and at the heart of the plan is a 1 GW electrolyser.
Now that is enormous.
Will it be made in Rotherham by ITM Power?
The article is a must read.
Fossil-Free Steel A Giant Step In Scania’s Decarbonisation
This title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Automotive World.
This is the introductory sub-title.
“Now we are gearing up in our journey towards completely emission-free products!” This is how Scania’s Head of Purchasing Anders Williamsson sees the company’s decision to invest in and enter into a partnership with the company H2 Green Steel (H2GS).
Other points from the article include.
- Each Scania truck contains five tonnes of steel.
- Scania will have a close partnership with H2GS.
- Scania will be able to get 90 % of their steel from H2GS.
H2GS will change steelmaking, when they start production in 2024.
H2 Green Steel Plans 800 MW Hydrogen Plant In Sweden
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on montel.
The title says it all.
In Can The UK Have A Capacity To Create Five GW Of Green Hydrogen?, I said the following.
Ryze Hydrogen are building the Herne Bay electrolyser.
- It will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power.
- It will produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
The electrolyser will consume 552 MWh to produce ten tonnes of hydrogen, so creating one tonne of hydrogen needs 55.2 MWh of electricity.
This would mean that H2 Green Steel’s electrolyser could be producing around one hundred and forty thousand tonnes of hydrogen per year or 380 tonnes per day.
What About Scunthorpe?
I very much believe that Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire, would be the ideal place for hydrogen steelmaking in the UK as I outlined in Green Hydrogen To Power First Zero Carbon Steel Plant.
So could 800 MW of electricity be available to produce the hydrogen in the area.
Currently, the world’s largest offshore wind farm is Hornsea One with a capacity of 1218 MW, which feeds into the National Grid at Killingholme.
This Google Map shows the distance between Scunthorpe and Killingholme.
Note.
- Scunthorpe is in the South-West corner of the map.
- Killingholme is in the North-East corner of the map.
The distance is about twenty miles.
When fully developed, the Hornsea Wind Farm is planned to have a capacity of 6 GW or 6000 MW, so there should be enough renewable energy.
Could The Hydrogen Be Created Offshore?
In ITM Power and Ørsted: Wind Turbine Electrolyser Integration, I wrote about combining wind turbines and electrolysers to create an offshore wind turbine, that generates hydrogen, rather than electricity.
This approach may be ideal for the later phases of the Hornsea Wind Farm.
- Redundant gas pipes can be used to bring the hydrogen ashore.
- Worked-out offshore gas fields can be used to store hydrogen.
- Worked-out gas fields in the area, are already being used to store natural gas from Norway.
- The hydrogen can be fed directly into the HumberZero hydrogen network.
But the main reason, is that some serious commentators feel it is more affordable approach in terms of capital and maintenance costs.
It is also easy to convert hydrogen back to zero-carbon electricity, if you have a handy gas-fired power station. There could be as many of three of these at Keadby.
Conclusion
It’s all coming together on Humberside.
Anything the Swedes can do, we can do better!
Green Hydrogen To Power First Zero Carbon Steel Plant
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on renews.biz.
This is the two introductory paragraphs.
A new industrial initiative, backed by EIT InnoEnergy, will build the world’s first large-scale steel production plant powered by green hydrogen, in north Sweden.
The H2 Green Steel industrial initiative, which will mobilise €2.5bn of investment, aims to deliver a project that will create a new green steel producer from inception.
These further points are made.
- There will be downstream steel products manufacture.
- The initiative will create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.
- Production could start in 2024.
- Up to five million tonnes of steel could be produced by 2030.
The plant will be built in the Boden-Lulea area of Northern Sweden.
Note.
H2 Green Steel has a web site, which explains more.
What About Scunthorpe?
Surely, the obvious location for green steel production plant in the UK would be Scunthorpe.
- The HumberZero network can bring in hydrogen and take away any carbon dioxide.
- The steelworks makes world-class products like railway rails.
- It is a massive site.
- The site has good rail access.
But there don’t seem to be any plans for hydrogen steelmaking at Scunthorpe.
Conclusion
I hope we’ve not missed the boat for hydrogen steelmaking.
- We’ve certainly got the sites, the renewable energy and the hydrogen technology.
- On the other hand, I can remember sensible arguments for lots of much smaller steel plants from fifty years ago, as an alternative to nationalisation of the steel industry by the Wilson Government in 1967.
- I can also remember proposals for nuclear steelmaking.
I just wonder, if a design of hydrogen steelmaking plant could be developed, perhaps even using a small modular nuclear reactor to generate the hydrogen.
If we are going to have a steel industry in the future, we must do something radical.
Sweden’s Grand Plan To Make Zero-Carbon Steel
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on theTelegraph.
It adds a lot of colour and background to Sweden’s plan to make zero-carbon stell using a process called HYBRIT, that I wrote about in Funding Award to Supply An 8MW Electrolyser and is illustrated in this infographic.
The amount of hydrogen needed is large as this paragraph from the Telegraph article says.
HYBRIT’s demonstration plant, for which an investment decision is due in 2022, will require 400MW of power just for the electrolysers to make the hydrogen. Sweden’s largest existing wind farm, Björkhöjden, produces just 288MW. Then to store the hydrogen, Vattenfall plans to build 120,000 m3 of lined underground storage, enough to store 100GWh worth of the gas.
Will they procure the electrolysers from the UK’s experts in the field; iTM Power? This innovative company is building the world’s largest electrolyser factory in Rotherham, which will be able to produce a GW of electrolysers in a year.
Conclusion
This well-written article in the Telegraph explains a lot about steel produced using hydrogen instead of coal.
Sweden has a lot of advantages at Lulea to create steel.
- The iron ore is mined locally.
- Sweden has ninety percent of Europe’s iron ore.
- Ships can sail to Lulea, which is at the top of the Baltic.
- There is gigawatts of zero-carbon electricity from the River Lule.
- They can build wind farms in the area, which has a low population.
It does look that they might export the iron ore as sponge iron, which can then be processed directly into steel products using electric arc furnaces.
Green Light For Fossil-Free Steel In Oxelösund
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Market Screener.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Green light for fossil-free steel in Oxelösund The Land and Environment Court has decided to grant SSAB Oxelösund an environmental permit to convert its steelmaking operations and reduce carbon dioxide activities by 2025. This also means that we will take a step nearer towards fossil-free steel production across SSAB in 2045.
This is an historic decision in many ways. It is the first time that Oxelösund has applied for changes in production to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Use of sponge iron made through HYBRIT technology, together with scrap iron as feedstock instead of iron ore and coal, will enable SSAB to reduce emissions in Oxelösund by around 80%.
Hydrogen steelmaking processes are surely the future of steelmaking, as they can be made zero-carbon.
It will need a lot of hydrogen and I can see processes like Shell’s Blue Hydrogen Process being ideal to produce the hydrogen.
But will China and the other countries that produce cheap steel, turn to hydrogen steel-making?
Nippon Steel Pledges To Be Carbon Neutral By 2050
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on NikkeiAsia.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Nippon Steel has set a goal to reach net-zero emission by 2050, Nikkei learned on Thursday, a move that could nudge other manufacturers to try to meet Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality across the country by the same year.
Nippon Steel, Japan’s biggest steelmaker, will introduce a new way of steelmaking using hydrogen which can reduce carbon emissions by up to 80% compared with conventional methods of production. The steelmaker’s new green target will be unveiled in a business plan it is currently drafting which will be published by March 2021.
To my mind, hydrogen is the way to go!
Sweden’s HYBRIT Starts Operations At Pilot Plant For Fossil-Free Steel
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Reuters UK.
These are the first paragraph.
Swedish green steel venture HYBRIT, owned by SSAB, state-owned utility Vattenfall [VATN.UL] and miner LKAB, on Monday started test operations at its pilot plant for fossil-free steel in Lulea, Sweden.
The HYBRIT web site outlines the process on its home page.
In 2016, SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall joined forces to create HYBRIT – an initiative that endeavors to revolutionize steel-making. HYBRIT aims to replace coking coal, traditionally needed for ore-based steel making, with hydrogen. The result will be the world’s first fossil-free steel-making technology, with virtually no carbon footprint.
During 2018, work started on the construction of a pilot plant for fossil-free steel production in Luleå, Sweden. The goal is to have a solution for fossil-free steel by 2035. If successful, HYBRIT means that together we can reduce Sweden’s CO2 emissions by 10% and Finland’s by 7%.
This could be a very significant development.
Success For Ovako In Green Steel Hydrogen Trial
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Engineer.
Steel usually has to be heated to a high temperature before it can be rolled.
Normally, LPG is used, but Swedish steel company; Ovako, have conducted a full-scale trial using hydrogen, which seems to have proved it doesn’t result in lower quality.
From Green Gin To Sustainable Steel, Government Fires Up £140m Hydrogen Push
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Business Green.
The projects are wide ranging.
Green Gin
This is said about gin production by Orkney Distilling Ltd.
The successful projects feature a number of eye-catching initiatives, including the HySpirits project which has been awarded just under £200,000 to explore how the European Marine Energy Centre could work with local gin producer Orkney Distilling Ltd to convert its distillery from using liquid petroleum gas to hydrogen produced using renewable power.
I have been told that making whisky produces carbon dioxide. Does gin?
My source, also said carbon dioxide frpm Scotch whisky production has been used in the growing of soft fruit.
I found this article on The Courier, which is entitled Time To Cut Back On Whisky’s CO2 Emissions and this article on Scottish Capture and Storage, which is entitled Carbon Capture In The Heart Of The City.
Both are worth reading.
This is a paragraph from the second article.
The carbon capture process at this site is relatively simple, because the off gas from fermentation is already very pure in CO2. The process is not about enhancing CO2 concentration, but more about removing impurities. That involves a number of washing stages to remove water and impurities from the gas given off during fermentation, before it is compressed, stored, and eventually transported by road.
The article also says that the distillery produces four tonnes of carbon dioxide per day, which compared to the emissions of Chinese, Indian and United States coal-fired power stations is small beer, but it does show how in some industrial processes capturing the carbon dioxide can be relatively easy in some industrial processes and of a high quality for perhaps using in food and medical products.
But I can’t find a article connecting carbon dioxide from whisky to food production.
The Dolphyn Project
This is said about the Dolphyn Project.
A further £427,000 has been awarded to the Dolphyn project, which plans to mount electrolysers onto floating wind turbine platforms to produce hydrogen. One wind turbine alone has the potential to produce enough low carbon hydrogen to heat around 2,500 homes, fuel over 120-240 buses, or run eight to 12 trains,” the government said
I can’t find much on the Internet about this project, except this extract from this document on the Institution of Engineering and Technology web site, which is called Transitioning To Hydrogen.
The Deepwater Offshore Local Production of Hydrogen
(Dolphyn) project will consider large-scale retrofit
hydrogen production from offshore floating wind
turbines in deep water locations (Figure 19).This is a partnership project led by ERM with Engie,
Tractebel Engie and ODE. The project looks to
utilise the vast UK offshore wind potential to power
electrolysers to produce hydrogen from the water the
turbines float on. Large 10MW turbines consisting of
desalinisation technology and PEM electrolysers will
feed hydrogen at pressure via a single flexible riser to
a sub-sea manifold with other turbines’ lines. The gas
is then exported back to shore via a single trunkline.
A 20-by-20 array array would have a 4GW capacity,
producing sufficient hydrogen to heat more then 1.5
million homes.This project may include the offshore wind supply
of hydrogen supported with hydrogen from steam
methane reformation with carbon capture technology.
This project is well aligned to work the ACORN75
project at St Fergus.
Note that the project is talking about gigawatts of energy and providing enough hydrogen to heat millions of homes.
I think that the Dolphyn Project is badly named, as Google thinks you’re looking for projects about aquatic animals.
Gigastack
This is said about Gigastack.
Meanwhile, a consortium featuring Ørsted, ITM Power, and Element Energy is celebrating after securing just shy of £500,000 to help move forward with its Gigastack feasibility study, a six-month project to investigate the potential for delivering bulk, low-cost, and zero-carbon hydrogen.
There’s more here on this page on the ITM Power web site, where this is the first paragraph.
Project to demonstrate delivery of bulk, low-cost and zero-carbon hydrogen through gigawatt scale PEM electrolysis, manufactured in the UK.
As you’d expect from the name, they are looking at creating gigawatts of hydrogen.
Steel
This is said about steel.
The funding awards came as the government also launched a new call for evidence seeking views on how the government should structure and manage a planned £250m Clean Steel Fund. The government said the proposed fund would help the industry embrace clean technologies and move on to “a pathway that is consistent with the UK Climate Change Act” and its new net zero emission goal.
So what has hydrogen got to do with steel?
Search for hydrogen steelmaking on Google and you get lots of articles including this article from the Stockholm Environmental Institute, which is entitled Hydrogen Steelmaking For A Low-Carbon Economy.
This is a paragraph.
In the spring of 2016, three Swedish companies – LKAB (iron ore mining), SSAB (steel manufacturer) and Vattenfall (power utility) – announced their ambition to develop and implement a novel process for fossil-free steel production in Sweden. This process would use hydrogen (instead of coal) for the direct reduction of iron oxide/ore (H-DR), combined with an electric arc furnace (EAF). It would be almost completely fossil-free when the hydrogen is produced from electrolysis of water by use of renewable electricity. The concept is called Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology, or HYBRIT for short.
My knowledge of process engineering, tells me, that even if the Swedes don’t succeed, someone will and here in the UK, we’re ideally placed to take advantage, as we have the wind power to produce the hydrogen.
Conclusion
The future’s bright, the future’s green hydrogen!
, The North Sea can provide us with more than enough hydrogen, so long as the wind blows and there’s water to electrolyse..
The Anonymous Widower 