According to thyssenkrupp, RWE already is planning to build electrolysis capacity that eventually could supply hydrogen to the blast furnace thyssenkrupp is looking to convert. A 100-MW electrolyzer could produce 1.7 metric tons of hydrogen per hour, corresponding to around 70% of the furnace’s need, thyssenkrupp said. 

“The planned cooperation with RWE is an important step on our path to climate neutrality,” said thyssenkrupp Steel chairman Bernhard Osburg.

“The aimed-for supply quantity would be largely sufficient to supply a blast furnace with green hydrogen and allow the production of climate-neutral steel for around 50,000 cars per year. This shows that climate-neutral steel is possible, and we are pressing ahead with the conversion of our production. Nowhere else than in the steel industry can hydrogen be used with a comparable climate protection effect.”