Thyssenkrupp to present plans for green steel plant in Duisburg in August

The supply of hydrogen to the enterprise remains in question

In August this year, Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe will present the first proposals for the delayed construction of a green steel plant in Duisburg. This was announced by the company’s CEO Bernhard Osburg at the Handelsblatt hydrogen conference, Reuters reports.

These plans are intended to allow Thyssenkrupp to switch to direct reduction steel production to gradually replace the blast furnace at its plant.

Last year, the German government allocated €2 billion in subsidies for this project to support the steelmaker’s goal of achieving climate neutrality no later than 2045.

Osburg mentioned a tender for the production of hydrogen from renewable sources, for which Iqony, a subsidiary of the coal-fired energy company Steag, was initially selected. The project proposal was developed in 2022, when the energy company was assigned the role of supplier of hydrogen and oxygen from Duisburg-Walsum to the Thyssenkrupp plant.

Getting the green light for Steag/Iqony to operate the smelter is not a guarantee, as the tender must be free of discrimination, explained Iqony CEO and COO Ralf Schiele. Bernhard Osburg also advocated caution in this matter, as taxpayers’ money is at stake.

In general, German industrialists, according to Handelsblatt, note that it is worth slowing down expectations regarding hydrogen as a future energy source for reducing emissions. In particular, according to Till Mansmann, the federal government’s commissioner for these issues, green hydrogen will reach German consumers, in particular steel producers, at the beginning of the next decade.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Thyssenkrupp Steel’s plant in Hagen (Tyssenkrupp Hohenlimburg) became the first German industrial enterprise to be directly connected to a wind farm. Thanks to the green energy from four new wind turbines installed by project partner SL NaturEnergie, the company can now cover 40% of its average annual electricity needs.