POSCO to launch the production of green steel by 2030

The South Korean steel producer Posco plans to rapidly develop steel production technology using hydrogen during 2026-2030. Kallanish informs about it.

The company plans to complete the construction of a pilot plant that will use hydrogen with a capacity of 300,000 tons of green steel per year in 2026, the design of which began in July 2022, and to put into operation a commercial enterprise with a capacity of 1 million tons by 2030.

Last week at the Environment and Energy Show, the company confirmed that it will use HyREX’s green hydrogen to produce direct reduction iron (DRI) for electric arc furnaces. POSCO will cooperate with Primetals in this matter.

If successful, the HyREX technology could gradually replace POSCO’s blast furnaces and help the group become carbon neutral by 2050.

In addition, according to MarketScreener, POSCO Group perceives the climate crisis as an important management risk and is making efforts to respond to it, including setting targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and investing in environmental facilities.

POSCO International, one of the group’s divisions, will also work with small and medium-sized enterprises to invest 20 billion Korean won by 2025 to build steel scrap collection bases across the country and establish a procurement system to supply 500,000 tons of this raw material to POSCO annually.

As GMK Center reported earlier, POSCO Group previously announced its intentions until 2030 to invest 121 trillion won ($93 billion) in environmental development of the main types of activities – steel business, production of materials for batteries and hydrogen projects. More than 60% of the budget, or 73 trillion won ($56 billion), will be invested in local businesses, mainly in production complexes in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, and Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province.