thyssenkrupp nucera is partnering with H2 Green Steel in constructing the first large-scale green steel plant in Europe. The standardized 20 MW alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) modules—now called by the product name “scalum”—will enable an installed capacity of more than 700 MW. This will also create one of the largest water electrolysis plants in Europe.

The green hydrogen will power a new, fully integrated, digitalized and cycle-oriented steel plant in Boden, northern Sweden. Operations are planned to start at the end of 2025, with a scheduled ramp up in 2026. In the initial phase, the site will produce 2.5 million tons of green steel and by 2030 is planned to have increased to around 5 million tons. Green steel products are already in exceptionally high demand from the automotive industry, which will thus be able to reduce its carbon footprint so decisively.

In steelmaking, the industrial start-up from Sweden eliminates climate-damaging carbon by using green hydrogen in the direct reduction process of iron. This process no longer produces liquid pig iron, but a solid iron sponge refined into crude steel in an electric arc furnace. For steel production, H2 Green Steel uses green hydrogen produced in the electrolysis plant directly at the Boden plant where it has a constant supply of renewable (hydro- and wind power) electricity.

The alkaline water electrolysis technology used to produce green hydrogen for the direct reduction of iron enables H2 Green Steel to reduce carbon emissions by up to 95% compared with conventional steelmaking, thus almost zero.

The electrolysis plant in Boden will be many times bigger than most existing electrolyzer plants today. Combining our own strong technical expertise with that of a proven high-performance and high-efficiency electrolyzer like thyssenkrupp nucera’s gives us a solid head start in the growing green hydrogen economy, which we will use to transform heavy industry with its difficult-to-degrade process emissions. We’re starting with steel in Boden, Sweden, but that’s just the beginning.

—Maria Persson Gulda, Chief Technology Officer of H2 Green Steel

thyssenkrupp nucera has a proven history in chlor-alkali and various other projects under contract with a similar or even larger production capacity in alkaline water electrolysis. These include green hydrogen projects around the globe, such as installing a 2+ GW electrolysis plant for Air Products in Saudi Arabia, delivering a plant for Unigel in Brazil and a 200 MW hydrogen plant for Shell in the port of Rotterdam.