H2morrow steel, Germany:
One of Europe’s largest off-taker projects is the H2M Eemshaven reformer plant, enabling the transformation of one of Europe’s largest steel manufacturers in Germany.
Equinor, Open Grid Europe (OGE) and Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (tkSE) have been working on a suitable concept for the generation and transport of low-carbon hydrogen to the largest German steelworks in Duisburg since 2019. In 2021 the German gas transport system operator Thyssengas joint the the consortium as associated member to complement the expertise in the infrastructure planning in the Ruhr area.
Hydrogen from natural gas and combined carbon capture and storage, so called ‘low-carbon hydrogen’, will be key in decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors such as cement, steel and other type of heavy industries and transport. The low-carbon hydrogen will be provided by the H2M Eemshaven facility in the Netherlands.
The H2morrow project was initiated back in 2018 through a joint study between Equinor and Open Grid Europe (OGE), the largest transmission grid operators in Germany. It highlighted the high potential to generate and transport blue hydrogen to German industrial clusters such as in North Rhine-Westphalia. The year after a feasibility study was conducted with the steel producer Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (tkSE) to develop a suitable concept to supply low-carbon hydrogen to the largest German steelworks in Duisburg.
The project could be in operation by 2028 and supply low-carbon hydrogen from Eemshaven in the Netherlands to the biggest steel plant in the Ruhr area in Germany.
Currently the project and all partners are focusing on developing the appropriate policies and regulatory framework to bring it to a robust business case.
Low-carbon hydrogen can be produced in large quantities comparatively quickly, which means that the hydrogen demand expected by industry can be met quickly.