July 11 (Renewables Now) – British oil and gas company BP Plc (LON:BP) and German steel manufacturer Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG have signed a pact on the establishment of a long-term supply of low-carbon hydrogen and renewable power in steel production.
The new memorandum of understanding (MoU) calls for the two companies to explore supply options for both blue and green hydrogen along with the signing of wind and solar power purchase agreements (PPAs). The two partners also intend to jointly advocate for related policies on a European level.
Thyssenkrupp Steel says it accounts for 2.5% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Germany, mainly at the Duisburg site where it operates coal-fired blast furnaces. The company, though, plans to replace those blast furnaces with direct reduction plants utilising low-carbon hydrogen on the path toward achieving climate-neutral steel production by 2045.
“The decarbonisation of the steel industry will require enormous quantities of low-carbon and in the long term green hydrogen. This will increasingly require the use of electricity from renewable sources. All this can only be achieved through a well-developed hydrogen infrastructure with a supra-regional pipeline network. The MoU is an important milestone for us to set the course with bp for a reliable supply of energy in the future,” commented Arnd Koefler, chief technology officer at Thyssenkrupp Steel.
Presently, Thyssenkrupp Steel produces 11 million tonnes of crude steel annually and is targeting the production of 400,000 tonnes of CO2-reduced steel by 2025.
At the same time, BP is pursuing green hydrogen production at its refineries in Lingen, Germany, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and in Castellon, Spain. The British group is developing both blue and green hydrogen production projects around the world, including in the UK and Australia.
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