POSCO to Collaborate on Carbon Neutrality with Australian Raw Material Supplier Roy Hill

POSCO-Roy Hill Carbon Neutrality MOU Signed
Joint Research and Business Development in Hydrogen Reduction HBI Production, Hydrogen Production, Renewable Energy Projects, and CCUS Fields

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] POSCO is joining hands with Australian raw material supplier Roy Hill to achieve carbon neutrality.

On the 2nd, POSCO announced that it will establish a cooperative system with Roy Hill to reduce carbon emissions across mining and steel industries. The two companies agreed to jointly conduct research and explore business opportunities in areas such as ▲HBI production using hydrogen reduction steelmaking ▲hydrogen production ▲renewable energy projects ▲carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies.

Roy Hill is a large mining company producing 60 million tons of iron ore annually in the Pilbara region of northwestern Australia. POSCO holds a 12.5% stake in Roy Hill and receives 16 million tons of iron ore annually from them.

First, the two companies will jointly research the optimal HBI production system by combining iron ore mined by Roy Hill with POSCO’s hydrogen reduction steelmaking technology.

In conventional blast furnace operations, coal was used as a reducing agent to separate oxygen from iron ore, inevitably emitting carbon dioxide in the process. In contrast, hydrogen reduction steelmaking uses hydrogen instead of coal as the reducing agent to produce reduced iron without carbon dioxide emissions, which is then used to manufacture steel products. The reduced iron separated from oxygen in the iron ore is shaped into briquette-like forms called HBI.

The two companies will also explore ways to produce hydrogen directly. They plan to produce blue hydrogen by utilizing abundant natural gas in Australia and, in the long term, consider building a green hydrogen production base by leveraging Australia’s excellent renewable energy conditions such as solar and wind power. Additionally, they will cooperate on developing CCUS technology to capture, utilize, and store carbon generated during blue hydrogen production to prevent its release into the atmosphere and consider commercializing this technology.

The signing ceremony was held via video conference, attended by POSCO’s Head of Steel Division (CEO) Kim Hak-dong, POSCO’s Head of Purchasing and Investment Division Lee Joo-tae, Roy Hill CEO Gerhard Veldsman, Hancock CEO Garry Korte (Hancock being Roy Hill’s largest shareholder), and Barry Fitzgerald, Head of Iron Ore Business at Hancock and Director of Roy Hill.

Meanwhile, POSCO declared its goal of ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality’ last year and plans to lead the hydrogen industry by establishing a global cooperative system with stakeholders to take the lead in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.