Masdar + Emsteel produce green steel: State-owned renewables firm Masdar and steel producer Emsteel’s pilot program to produce steel using green hydrogen as a fuel is now fully operational, according to a statement. The project uses energy from green hydrogen to extract iron from iron ore — an energy-intensive step essential to steelmaking.
Background: Masdar partnered with Emsteel — formerly known as Emirates Steel Arkan — to develop a pilot green hydrogen plant to decarbonize the UAE’s steel sector last year. The pilot project could potentially cut carbon emissions in the steel-making process by 95%, the companies said at the time.
Emsteel has more decarbonization plans: The company partnered with Japan’s JFE Steel and Itochu Corporation last year to conduct feasibility studies for a greener iron ore processing facility in Abu Dhabi. The plant is expected to begin production in 2H 2025. Emsteel and Finnish climate tech company Magsort also completed pilot testing on a decarbonization initiative aiming to slash 15% of the emissions from Emsteel’s Al Ain Cement Factory. Magsort can reduce 3-17% — depending on the type of furnace used — of CO2 emissions from the steel-making process.
ALSO- Did Masdar revise its green hydrogen target timeline? Masdar seems to have delayed its goal for green hydrogen production, saying in the statement that it now aims to achieve 1 mn tons by 2034 instead of by its previously set 2030 deadline. The renewables leader said it expects to reach this capacity a decade from now, but did not provide specific reasons for the delay. Initially, half of the production was slated to occur in Abu Dhabi.
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