PARIS/MADRID
EnergiesNet.com 02 16 2022

Steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal SA has formed a joint venture with Enagas SA, Fertiberia SA and solar developer DH2 Energy to produce and transport green hydrogen in Spain.

Hydrogen is increasingly viewed as a key part of strategies to decarbonize industrial processes and transportation if it’s produced without emitting greenhouse gases. ArcelorMittal and chemical maker Fertiberia, together with other clients that would join the project, plan to buy 330,000 tons of green hydrogen per year to produce low-carbon steel, ammonia, fertilizers and other products.

The HyDeal España joint venture will start production in three years and by 2030 expects to reach 9.5 gigawatts of solar energy and 7.4 gigawatts of electrolyzers — the machines that produce hydrogen using electricity and water, according to a joint statement released Tuesday. 

“The world has changed in the past six months with the rise in gas and power prices,” HyDeal Chairman Thierry Lepercq told Bloomberg. He said the venture hopes to finalize bank financing of several billion euros by the summer to cover the cost of building solar farms, electrolyzers and the pipeline for the first phase of the project, which foresees 200,000 tons of green hydrogen produced in 2026.

In tandem, Fertiberia said it would invest in a plant to develop ways of making green ammonia without relying on fossil fuels to feed a fertilizer production site. Last year, ArcelorMittal announced plans to revamp its facilities in Gijon, in northern Spain, to produce 1.6 million tonnes of carbon-free steel a year.

Green hydrogen is now “able to compete with coal, oil and natural gas in both costs and volumes, the perfect weapon at scale against the climate crisis and skyrocketing energy prices,” Lepercq said.

bloomberg.com 02 16 2022