Tata Steel Nederland, the Dutch subsidiary of Tata Steel Group, has signed contracts with three companies to draw up detailed plans for the switch to the hydrogen route for steel production — a change that is designed to achieve the company’s plan to turn carbon neutral by 2045. The cost for this first development step is in excess of euro 65 million (Rs 520 crore).

The companies, McDermott, Danieli and Hatch, will work closely with Tata Steel’s internal project and sustainably team to formulate the migration plan from the blast furnace (BF) at Ijmuiden in Netherlands to hydrogen or gas based direct reduced iron (DRI) route.

“We recently signed agreements about our future with two ministries and the province of North Holland. In doing so, we have committed to being carbon dioxide (CO2) neutral before 2045 and emit between 35 per cent and 40 percent less CO2 before 2030. This will primarily be achieved via the hydrogen route where the blast furnaces are replaced with modern clean steel-making technology that uses hydrogen or gas instead of coal,” said Hans vanden Berg, CEO of Tata Steel Nederland.

While McDermott will be responsible for the construction input and support of the technical project management, Danieli will take up the engineering design for the plant and technology that delivers the DRI. Hatch is going to be the technology licensor of the electric furnaces that melt the DRI and help to reduce the oxygen content. “The new plants will be built on our site while all the current plants will remain in operation until the new installations are up and running. That requires intense integration between facilities and close collaboration between all parties.

The coalition that is now formed with McDermott, Danieli and Hatch marks the start of the basic engineering to define our plans more specifically,” said Annemarie Manger, sustainability director of Tata Steel Nederland.