Russia’s NOVATEK (the largest independent natural gas producer in Russia) and Severstal (a vertically integrated mining and metallurgical company) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of alternative and hydrogen energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The MOU provides for the implementation of a joint pilot project to produce blue hydrogen from natural gas and by using technologies for carbon capture and storage.

The partners intend to develop jointly technical requirements, standards and engineering solutions for the manufacturing and supply of hydrogen transport pipelines, turbines, hydrogen storage systems and hydrogen transport tanks.

They also agreed to cooperate in the production and supply of hydrogen, development of technological solutions for the use of fuel types based on hydrogen and its carriers, specifically ammonia.

Steel producers are one of the largest industrial consumers of natural gas, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a new prospective area for our mutually beneficial cooperation. The use of carbon capture and storage technologies, as well as a hydrogen fuel blend will reduce our joint carbon footprint and increase the competitiveness of products manufactured by the Russian steel industry.

—Leonid Mikhelson, NOVATEK’s Chairman of the Management Board