Duferco invests in green hydrogen production in Sicily

Duferco has announced the launch of a project to develop clean hydrogen production in Sicily to decarbonize production at its plant near Messina, Kallanish reports.

Duferco, in partnership with Caronte and Nippon Gases Italia, will build a green hydrogen production unit with a capacity of about 100 tons per year.

The total investment will amount to €10 million, including €7.5 million allocated by the regional authorities through the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience (PNRR). The hydrogen produced will be used not only by the Duferco plant, but also by other industrial enterprises in the Sicily region.

The hydrogen plant will be powered by a 4 MW photovoltaic system and equipped with a 1 MW electrolyzer.

«The Hydrogen Valley in Sicily will contribute to one of the main European goals in the energy transition, as envisaged by RePowerEU. It is a project that supports companies and the territory and helps strengthen the supply chain on the island,» said Antonio Gozzi, President of Duferco.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the European Commission has allocated €402 million in funding to create a green hydrogen hub in the Italian region of Puglia. The Green Valley is to provide 260 MW of solar power generation and 160 MW of electrolysis capacity for hydrogen production near the cities of Brindisi and Taranto. The fuel will be used in the production of direct reduced iron (DRI) to decarbonize the steelmaking process at Italy’s largest steel plant in Taranto (ADI) and a consortium of other steelmakers.

Also, Tenova announced cooperation with Italy’s De Nora and Snam on a project to test hybrid heating technologies for steel reheating. The companies are partners in the European HyTecHeat initiative, funded by the EU through the €3.3 million Horizon Europe program, which aims to develop the use of hydrogen-based hybrid technologies for low-carbon steel production.