Renewable

November 19 (Renewables Now) - German steelmaker Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH has selected Siemens Gas and Power to build the 2.2-MW Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysis plant for its hydrogen-for-steelmaking project.

Seven wind turbines with a combined capacity of 30 MW will be installed next year by Avacon AG on land owned by the Salzgitter Group to produce electricity for the project. The PEM electrolysis plant will use that electricity in the production of hydrogen. 

At full capacity, the electrolyser will be able to produce 400 Nm3 of hydrogen. The start of commercial operation is planned for the fourth quarter of 2020, Siemens said Monday, on announcing its role in the Salzgitter Wind Hydrogen project.

The innovation project, worth EUR 50 million (USD 55.3m), will lay the foundation for the future deployment of greater volumes of hydrogen to reduce direct carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from steel production. At the end of October, Salzgitter said it will need some governmental funding to make it happen. 

“The Salzgitter Wind Hydrogen project is an important building block on the way towards climate-friendly steel production. It is now the turn of politicians to put in place the right conditions to support the transformation into a low-CO2 industry,” Salzgitter AG executive board chairman, Heinz Joerg Fuhrmann, said in the Monday press release.

Salzgitter AG (ETR:SZG), parent company of Salzgitter Flachstahl, wants to make steel production virtually free of CO2 as part of its SALCOS (Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking) project. Using hydrogen from renewables to replace coal for the smelting of iron ore is one step in that direction.