South Korea’s largest steelmaker, POSCO, has unveiled a pilot steelmaking plant that runs on hydrogen rather than fossil fuels. This is reported by KED Global. In this way, the South Korean company is moving towards its carbon neutrality ambitions.
The pilot plant at the Pohang facility has a production capacity of 24 tons of molten iron per day, emitting 400 kg of carbon per ton, which is significantly lower than at existing fossil fuel-based steel mills. The company expects the facility to become carbon-free after the transition to renewable energy.
The production process uses the HyREX hydrogen reduction process.
In April 2024, the company succeeded in producing molten iron at the HyREX pilot plant, which was then undergoing repairs to improve post-process quality and develop additional technologies. Initial analysis showed that post-process quality, such as carbon specific gravity, did not meet POSCO’s standards.
Posco plans to start construction of the full-scale HyREX steel plant with a production capacity of 36 tons of iron per hour in early 2025, with completion scheduled for 2027.
The company intends to produce 2.5 million tons of steel per year using this process by 2040 and to switch to hydrogen-based production by 2050.
