Project organization for feasibility study “Direct Reduction of Iron Ore in Wilhelmshaven” now established

Expert teams investigate commercial and technical issues.

Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Salzgitter AG, industrial partners Rhenus and Uniper, the Federal State of Lower Saxony and the City of Wilhelmshaven commissioned a feasibility study at the end of June for the construction of a direct reduction of iron ore (DRI) plant with an upstream hydrogen electrolyzer at the deep water port of Wilhelmshaven.

The project organization under the leadership of Salzgitter AG, headed by Dr.-Ing. Peter Juchmann, was already established back in July. Expert teams from the cooperation partners will now set about investigating technical, commercial and logistics issues and exchange their views in weekly conferences.

The results of the study are scheduled for presentation at the end of March 2021.

If the findings of the feasibility study are successful, the joint implementation of the project has been planned as the next step. The target envisaged is to produce two million tons of directly reduced iron castings per year that will be dispatched by rail to Salzgitter and processed there into high-grade, environmentally compatible strip steel products in Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH’s integrated steelworks.

The direct reduction of iron ore to iron through hydrogen generated by harnessing electricity from renewable sources is at the heart of the SALCOS (SAlzgitter Low CO₂ Steelmaking) concept. This concept entails the possibility of reducing CO₂ emissions produced in the manufacturing of steel by up to 95 percent. In the initial phase, CO₂ emissions could already be significantly reduced by deploying natural gas. The region of Wilhelmshaven offers good locational conditions for realizing a concept of this kind.

Salzgitter AG:
For more than 150 years, the companies of the Salzgitter Group have stood for the innovative and sustainable production of steel and technology products. The Group’s core competences lie in the production and processing of rolled steel and tubes products and global trading in these products. The Group also operates a successful business in special machinery and plant engineering.

Uniper SE:
Uniper operates a global energy company that generates, trades and markets energy on a large scale. The company stands for tailor-made energy solutions to the complex issues in the world of energy. As one of the first companies, Uniper is active in the field of power-to-gas and as an operator of hydrogen-electrolysis demonstration plants in Falkenhagen and Hamburg-Reitbrook.

Rhenus:
The Rhenus Group ranks as a leading global logistics service provider. The company offers intelligent solutions along the entire supply chain for a wide array of sectors, including multimodal transport, storage, customs clearance and innovative value-added services

Contact:
Bernhard Kleinermann
Press Spokesman
Salzgitter AG
Corporate Communication
Telephone + 49 (0)5341 21 2300
Fax: + 49 (0)5341 21 2302
email: kleinermann.b@salzgitter-ag.de
www.salzgitter-ag.com

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