The availability of hydrogen and its cost competitiveness "remain a challenge" for the decarbonization of the steel sector, Maria Joao Duarte of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) said during a hydrogen conference in Vienna last week, overseen by Callanish.
"Currently, hydrogen—based DRI is clearly not economically available in Europe," adds Duarte, representative of the EU institutions at MHI EMEA."We don't have renewable energy to produce renewable hydrogen yet. We do not yet have the infrastructure to import this hydrogen from other sources, so there is also an infrastructure gap that needs to be filled. We are talking about high capital and operating costs, and we are also looking at a sector that is very sensitive to international competition and energy prices."hydrogen.
However, the pace of decarbonization turned out to be "slower than we expected," she warned, stressing the need to reduce the risks of existing decarbonization technologies.
Duarte argues that steel decarbonization is essentially a policy-driven process.
She calls for policies that can turn decarbonization into a "viable economic rationale," stressing that "it should make sense from a competitive perspective."
"Having a strong EU ETS combined with a strong CBAM is fundamental to moving forward," Duarte concluded."Structural changes, possibly in the way electricity prices are formed and signals are given, are also another important measure. We need demand-side policies and pools that bring all these benefits across the supply chain to the consumer."
Meanwhile, also speaking at the event, Matthias Pastl of the Austrian steel company voestalpine noted that the company prioritizes electrification over hydrogen for decarbonization (see related story).
Author: Ritu Ravi Great Britain
Kallanish.com
