RWE, ArcelorMittal to form offshore wind, green H2 duo in Germany

In a drive to make carbon-neutral steel in Germany, ArcelorMittal SA (NYSE:MT) will be working together with energy major RWE AG (ETR:RWE) to develop, build and operate offshore wind farms and green hydrogen production facilities.

The two companies announced on Wednesday they have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that outlines their planned cooperation.

RWE and ArcelorMittal are currently evaluating options for joint participation in tenders for offshore wind farm sites in the North Sea and, in the meantime, are also looking for areas suitable for the installation of electrolysers to supply green hydrogen to the steel production sites in Bremen and Eisenhuettenstadt. They intend to start with a 70-MW green hydrogen pilot plant by 2026 and then pursue a gigawatt-scale expansion in the long term if approval of public funding is in place.

The due plans to sign long-term purchase agreements for both wind power and green hydrogen.

RWE once again pointed at the planned amendment of the "Wind Energy at Sea Act" (WindSeeG), reiterating that the establishing of so-called “negative bids” in offshore wind tenders would make wind power unnecessarily expensive and will make it more difficult to finance projects.

“Competitive electricity prices are absolutely necessary, if energy-intensive industries such as the steel industry, which operates in a competitive global environment, are to have a future in Germany,” the company added.

Meanwhile, the two partners are also investigating possible uses for ArcelorMittal’s low-emissions steel in components for RWE's renewable power plants as the latter seeks to decarbonise its supply chain on the path to achieving carbon neutrality by 2040. ArcelorMittal itself has set a group-wide target to be carbon neutral by 2050.

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