Posted on 01 Nov 2021
UK-Australian iron ore producer Rio Tinto and steel producer BlueScope will jointly explore low-carbon steel production using Pilbara iron ore, including the use of hydrogen to replace coking coal at BlueScope's Port Kembla Steelworks in Australia.
Rio Tinto and BlueScope will prioritise studying the use of green hydrogen, which is produced using renewable energy with no emissions, at the Port Kembla Steelworks to directly reduce Pilbara iron ores into a product that could then be processed in an electric melter to produce metallic iron suitable to be finished into steel.
Rio Tinto supplies most of the iron ore to BlueScope's Port Kembla plant. It expects to produce around 320mn-325mn t of iron ore this year, down from a previous guidance of 325mn-340mn t. Rio Tinto completed the sale of its coal assets in 2018.
The first phase of the Rio Tinto-BlueScope tie-up will be to determine the scale of a pilot plant to be based at the Port Kembla steelworks, consisting of a hydrogen electrolyser, direct reduction process and melter.
Rio Tinto at an investor seminar last week said it was focused on studying three potential pathways towards net neutral steel production: using sustainable biomass with Pilbara iron ore to replace coking coal in the iron and steel-producing process, using hydrogen-based hot-briquetted iron with high-grade ores in Canada and using hydrogen direct reduced iron with a melter for Pilbara ores.
Rio Tinto announced new targets of reducing its Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 50pc by 2030, more than tripling its previous target and a 15pc reduction in emissions by 2025, five years earlier than previously. These targets are supported by around $7.5 bn direct investments to lower emissions between 2022 and 2030.
Source:Argus
