With the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, H2 Green Steel and global mining company Anglo American have entered into a process of studying the viability of using iron ore products as feedstock in the world’s first carbon-neutral integrated steelmaking plant to be built near the town of Boden in northern Sweden.
Lump ore to complement pellets as feedstock
The joint study will focus on investigating and trialling the suitability of lump ore as a complement to pellets in the hydrogen-based direct reduction plant of the project.
The premium-quality iron ore products will come from Anglo American’s Kumba mines in South Africa and Minas-Rio in Brazil. Both Anglo American and H2 Green Steel share the mission of reducing carbon emissions along the value chains of steelmaking. Anglo American has set itself the goal to cut its Scope 3 emissions by 50% by 2040.
Green value chains
“Our work with H2 Green Steel will focus on exploring ways for premium, responsibly produced iron ore from our operations to be used as feedstock in the Boden plant's low- carbon production process, paving the way to a cleaner, green way to produce steel,” says Peter Whitcutt, CEO of Anglo American's Marketing business. Luisa Orre, Chief Procurement Officer, H2 Green Steel, adds: “We are impressed by Anglo American's efforts to bring high-quality iron ore products to customers which focus on low-carbon iron and steelmaking, and we look forward to continuing working with them, not only for our first green hydrogen integrated steel plant in Sweden but for other future locations globally.” The possibility of using lump ore together with pellets would markedly enhance the flexibility of hydrogen-based DRI (direct reduced iron) production.
H2 Green Steel
The first industrial-scale fossil-free integrated steelmaking plant to be built in Boden, Sweden, will have a capacity of 2.5 million t/year in the first phase. It is scheduled to start producing green steel by 2025. The key process equipment from the DR plant down to the cold-rolling and processing facilities will be supplied by SMS group. The DRI plant, for which H2 Green Steel has initiated the studies with Anglo American, will be built by SMS group company Paul Wurth and its consortium partner Midrex.
