According to an official press release, the three companies conducted a preliminary feasibility study of the project last year with positive results. With the signed MoU, the project is now moving to Phase 1, which will further define the commercial and technical viability of the operation, possible partners, and funding sources. 
 
The proposed project would establish a 2-million-metric-ton DRI plant and a 1-GW hydrogen electrolysis unit adjacent to LIBERTY’s Alvance Aluminium facility in Dunkerque. The DRI plant will be capable of producing both DRI and hot briquetted iron (HBI) using 100% hydrogen reductant; however, the plant will initially run on a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas before transitioning to full hydrogen power.
 
The majority of DRI/HBI produced in the new facility will supply LIBERTY’s electric arc furnace operations in Ascoval, France. Surplus feedstock will be shipped to LIBERTY’s integrated steel works in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and Galati, Romania, as well as SHS’s Dillinger and Saarstahl steel plants in Germany.
 
“This project will realize the potential of steel and hydrogen working together to solve each other’s problems,” said Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of LIBERTY Steel Group and parent company GFG Alliance. “We are looking forward to exploring the potential for truly carbon-neutral steelmaking, using green hydrogen to help us make GREENSTEEL products.”