UAE developer Masdar and manufacturer Emsteel have completed a pilot project demonstrating the use of green hydrogen to produce green steel.
The Abu Dhabi-based 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 steelmaking.
The pilot is now fully operational and has successfully commenced the production of green steel.
The renewable fuel 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 the gas.
The certification data was validated by Bureau Veritas, acting as the third-party assurance provider.
Masdar said steel production is a very important industry in the UAE, but it is carbon-intensive and hard to abate, with the sector globally contributing between 7%-8% of worldwide carbon emissions.
Decarbonising this industry is therefore essential to propelling the world towards a net-zero future, added the developer.
It said the partnership between Masdar and steel and building materials company Emsteel has demonstrated the potential for green hydrogen to decarbonise the global steel value chain, while 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 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 decarbonization efforts and we are proud to be at the forefront of that endeavour.”
Emsteel group chief executive engineer Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi added: “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 utilization of clean energy sources rising above 80% in 2023.
“Emsteel is also the first steelmaker in the world to capture part of its CO2 emissions, enabling us to operate with 45% 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.”
Masdar said the pilot project aligns with Abu Dhabi’s Low Carbon Hydrogen Policy which promotes low-carbon hydrogen as a future clean energy source, constituting a significant milestone towards ensuring economic growth, sustainability, and energy security and a strategic step towards a sustainable future.
The Low Carbon Hydrogen Policy complements the UAE National Hydrogen Strategy, which seeks to establish the UAE as a leading global producer of low carbon hydrogen by 2031.