Abu Dhabi: First-of-its-kind project uses green hydrogen to produce green steel

The successful completion of a pilot project demonstrating the use of green hydrogen to produce green steel has been announced by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC – Masdar, the UAE's clean energy powerhouse, and EMSTEEL, the UAE's largest publicly listed steel and building materials company.

The Abu Dhabi-based pilot project, the first-of-its-kind in the Middle East and North African region, uses green hydrogen to extract iron from iron ore, a key step in steel-making.

The pilot project is now fully operational and has successfully commenced the production of green steel.

The renewable hydrogen produced by the project has been certified by Avance Labs, the hydrogen code manager accredited by the International Tracking Standard Foundation, in accordance with the recently released ISO 19870 methodology for hydrogen. The certification data was validated by Bureau Veritas, acting as the third-party assurance provider.

Rising global demand for green steel presents huge growth potential for the UAE, as the country aspires to be a major green steel production hub.

The use of sustainable building materials, including steel, is being promoted through the National Green Certificates Program, launched by the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure in July 2024.

The partnership between Masdar and EMSTEEL has demonstrated the potential for green hydrogen to decarbonise the global steel value chain, whilst demonstrating how clean energy and heavy industry partners in the UAE are collaborating and taking urgent action to accelerate the energy transition.

Masdar Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, said, "This project demonstrates world-class innovation as a result of our partnership with EMSTEEL to produce green steel, utilising green hydrogen. Decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries is vital to the global undertaking to achieve the objectives of the historic UAE Consensus agreed at COP28. Green hydrogen is an essential element in advancing national and global decarbonisation efforts and we are proud to be at the forefront of that endeavor."

Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, Group Chief Executive Officer of EMSTEEL, commented, "We are committed to propelling decarbonisation efforts in the sector, in support of the UAE's Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative. Our efforts to date have been fruitful, with our current utilisation of clean energy sources rising above 80 per cent in 2023. EMSTEEL is also the first steelmaker in the world to capture part of its CO2 emissions, enabling us to operate with 45 per cent less carbon intensity than the global average. Our partnership with Masdar will play a key role in continuing to build on our efforts to decarbonise this hard-to-abate sector and the downstream supply chain."