Thyssenkrupp Steel to launch H2 tender this quarter
Germany's Thyssenkrupp Steel is planning to launch a tender for the supply of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen this quarter.
The company published an initial notification regarding the tender plans last month and the process could be launched by early February, Thyssenkrupp Steel's head of hydrogen and green energy Henning Weege told Argus.
The hydrogen will be used to help decarbonise operations at the steelmaker's site in Duisburg, west Germany, where Thyssenkrupp Steel plans to replace a blast furnace with a direct reduced iron plant — for which the German government has earmarked €2bn of support through public funds.
According to the initial tender notification, the steelmaker is looking to contract 104,000t of supply for 2028, equivalent to around 4.1TWh based on hydrogen's higher heating value of 39.39 kWh/kg. This is to increase to 143,000 t/yr for 2029-35 and 151,000 t/yr for 2036-37.
Thyssenkrupp Steel is looking to ink supply contracts for up to 10 years and is open to receive hydrogen made from renewable power as well as from natural gas with carbon capture and utilisation or storage (CCUS).
A large share of the government support to Thyssenkrupp Steel, namely €1.45bn ($1.59bn), is a "conditional payment" that will cover extra costs for buying renewable hydrogen rather than supply made from gas with CCUS. But at least initially, the steelmaker will have to also look at gas-based hydrogen with CCUS, Weege said. This is partly because of the limited quantities of renewable hydrogen expected to be available by the end of this decade, while gas-based hydrogen would also provide a more steady baseload supply. That said, the share of renewable hydrogen could increase steadily in the 2030s as more becomes available.
Hydrogen could be provided by domestic suppliers and from abroad and will have to be delivered via pipeline to Duisburg. Thyssenkrupp Steel is "positive" that a core network linking Germany with the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark could be operational by the late 2020s, Weege said. This could provide access to supply delivered via ship to ports in neighbouring countries, including as ammonia, which would then need to be cracked back into hydrogen. That said, while several cracking facilities are planned in northwest Europe, it remains to be seen how much capacity will be available by the end of the decade.
Related news posts
Mexico June trade gap driven by falling crude exports
Mexico June trade gap driven by falling crude exports
Mexico City, 13 August (Argus) — Mexico's trade balance swung to a deficit of $1.04bn in June, impacted by reduced oil exports at lower prices and a weaker peso. The trade gap in June flipped from a $1.99bn surplus in May, acccording to statistics agency Inegi's final estimate, as exports fell at nearly twice the rate of declines in imports. Exports fell by 12pc to $48.9bn in June from the prior month, while imports declined by 7pc to $49.9bn from the prior month. The trade balance was in deficit for four of the six months in the first half of 2024. The deficit in the first half of the year was $5.5bn compared with a $6.5bn deficit a year earlier. In explaining the June deficit, Banorte cited "a slight moderation in oil prices relative to May, with the Mexican oil mix averaging $73.49/b in the month; a depreciation of the Mexican peso; and the temporary suspension of exports of some agricultural products to the US." Likewise, exports were down 5.7pc from June 2023, while imports were 3.6pc lower than a year earlier. The deficit was below Mexican bank Banorte's forecast for a $450mn surplus in June. Inegi breaks Mexico's trade data into two broad categories of "oil" and "non-oil", where the oil category includes crude, natural gas, oil derivatives and petrochemicals. Non-oil includes everything else from light vehicles and farm goods to copper and other mined minerals, Exports in the broad oil category declined by 33pc to $2.1bn in June from $3.2bn in May, with imports down by 13pc at $2.82bn in June from $3.23bn in May. Exports were down by 27pc from a year prior, with imports down by 26pc. Within this, crude exports were valued at $1.73bn in June, a sharp drop from $2.15bn in May and lower than the $2.44bn in the same month of 2023. Natural gas imports, meanwhile, were valued at $395mn in June from $316mn in May and $469mn in June 2023. Non-oil exports reached $46.8bn in June, with $15.6bn from automotive exports. This was down by 5pc and 5.2pc, respectively from May. Still, as reported last week by Mexico's auto associations , auto exports have climbed by 8.4pc in the first seven months of the year from a year earlier. By James Young Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US $5bn H2 hub in doubt as another firm revises plans
US $5bn H2 hub in doubt as another firm revises plans
London, 13 August (Argus) — Doubts over the realisation of the $5bn Hydrogen Heartland Hub (H2HH) in the US' Upper Midwest region are growing as another key project developer looks to revise its original investment plans. Minnesota-based utility Xcel Energy told Argus it is looking to adjust its original plans because of changes to costs and regulation over the last two years. Xcel is working with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to evaluate alternatives, it said. Delays appear likely and it is not certain what form the projects may eventually take. "Much has changed since we shared our hydrogen vision two years ago, and recent federal rules, market developments and stakeholder preferences have shifted," Xcel Energy said. "Our proposed projects in the Heartland Hub are still in early-stage development, but the cost forecasts, policy developments and the regulatory uncertainty make aggressive development unlikely," it added. Xcel had planned to invest $1.5bn-2.5bn in two of three plants in the Heartlands Hub (HH2H) that was already set back by the cancellation of its other project — a $2.2bn joint venture — earlier this month. That departure had left Xcel as the hub's main private-sector developer. Questions over the hub's future come despite the DOE offering $925mn towards HH2H as part of the US' $7bn hydrogen hub funding programme (see map). As part of the hub, Xcel had announced a project in South Dakota to make hydrogen from wind power for supply to Minnesota's One Earth Renewables that would use the supply to produce "carbon neutral" fertilisers. The firm had also announced a separate project in Minnesota slated to use a mix of nuclear, solar, and wind to make hydrogen for blending into natural gas distribution systems and power generation. But plans for the projects appear to have been far from concrete. "Detailed project design will begin until after HH2H and DOE finish award negotiations ," Xcel said last year. The DOE was to contribute $565mn to Xcel's projects, the company had said last year. It is unclear what may happen to these funds and the full $925mn awarded to HH2H if Xcel changes its plans. DOE was not immediately available to comment on how project changes may affect hub funding. The Heartland Hub — led by the University of North Dakota's Energy and Environment Research Center — is "collaborating with the DOE to finalize the HH2H contract and anticipates Phase 1 work commencing in late summer 2024," the Center told Argus . It maintains an "optimistic outlook on the broad opportunities" of hydrogen technology and "maintains solid relationships with a diverse spectrum of stakeholders" that extends "well beyond the initial cornerstone partners" of HH2H, it said. The US has awarded around $30mn each to three hubs so far this summer — in California , in the Pacific Northwest , and in Appalachia — to start ‘phase 1' planning activities. By Aidan Lea Selected US hydrogen hubs Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
India's Facor cleared for Odisha ferro-chrome expansion
India's Facor cleared for Odisha ferro-chrome expansion
Mumbai, 13 August (Argus) — Indian producer Vedanta-Ferro Alloy Corporation (Facor) has received permission from India's environment ministry for a ferro-chrome capacity expansion at its plant in east India's Odisha state. The company plans to more than double its ferro-chrome production capacity from 145,000 t/yr to 300,000 t/yr by adding two new furnaces at its Bhadrak district plant. The firm has receives all required permissions, including environment clearances, and expects to complete the project by 2026. Chrome ore production during April-June at Vedanta subsidiary Ferro Alloys rose by 5pc from a year earlier to 80,000t. Ferro-chrome production nearly trebled to 28,000t from 10,000t the previous year, driven by enhanced productivity at the charge chrome plant but also reflecting operations being disrupted during April-June 2023. By Deepika Singh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
UK TRA proposes 2.9mn t HRC import quota
UK TRA proposes 2.9mn t HRC import quota
London, 9 August (Argus) — The UK Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has recommended splitting the country's safeguard import quota for hot-rolled coil (HRC) into two, and has increased it to almost 3mn t. The quota for HRC, product category one, is currently around 1mn t and divided on a country-by-country basis. The TRA has recommended splitting the product into 1a and 1b, with 1a remaining distributed as 1 currently is and have an around 1mn t allocation, and with 1b having a 1.9 mn t volume that can be sourced from anywhere. 1b is for "downstream processing", which does not include coil being turned into hot-rolled sheet. It will predominantly be used by UK-based producer Tata, although some others, such as tube manufacturers, may also be able to use it. And 1b will have a cap of around 37-42pc, to ensure no one exporter dominates the quota. The TRA started a review of the quota in February, in response to Tata's increased import requirements as it takes down its blast furnaces ahead of the installation of a 3mn t electric arc furnace in 2027. "We propose maintaining the current quota volumes for steel used for commercial applications and creating a new quota accessible for downstream processing". Sources suggest Tata will initially be looking to import around 2mn t of HRC and 1mn t of slab before the expansion of its Kalinganagar site in India is complete, after which it intends to ramp up slab purchases to around 1.5mn t. By Colin Richardson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more