Salzgitter AG has awarded a contract to a consortium comprising Tenova, Danieli and DSD Steel Group for the construction of a direct reduction installation (DRI plant) on the premises of Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH. It is expected to produce 2 million tons of DRI per year. The purchase is part of the SALCOS program for the use of hydrogen in steel production.
It is the largest sub-plant of the SALCOS® - Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking - green steel program. This was announced by Salgitter AG in a recent press release.
The DRI plant is to have an annual production capacity of around 2 million tons of direct reduced iron (DRI). It could thus provide half of the total DRI capacity planned until 2033.
Energiron process
Salzgitter intends to connect the DRI plant to the neighboring electric arc furnace via the pneumatic Hytemp® transport system, so that the reduced iron pellets can be fed into the furnace in a hot state.
The direct reduction plant is based on the "Energiron ZR® Direct Reduction" technology jointly developed by Tenova and Danieli. It can be operated flexibly with hydrogen and natural gas in any mixing ratio.
According to its own information, Salzgitter AG is the first European steel producer to have made the investment decision, secured the financing and awarded major contracts for the transformation.
"Significant volumes" from 2026
According to Gunnar Groebler, CEO of Salzgitter AG, it will be possible to produce and sell "significant quantities of green steel" as early as 2026.
Roberto Pancaldi, CEO of Tenova, praised the long cooperation with Salzgitter. Regarding the plant technology, he explained:
"From the beginning, Salzgitter identified Energiron ZR® as the only technology that has been developed and extensively tested to be able to use any proportion of reduction gas mixtures without plant modifications, enabling a seamless transition from natural gas to hydrogen.
In addition, the use of the Hytemp® system will greatly reduce energy consumption in the electric arc furnace and thus contribute significantly to a further reduction in CO2 emissions."
Three steps to green steel
Salzgitter AG intends to implement its Green Steel program in three stages by 2033. The first is to be achieved in 2025 and consists of the DRI plant, an electric arc furnace and a 100 MW electrolysis plant, probably with Sunfire's SOEC technology.
Financing for the first stage, around €1 billion, will come from the recently handed-over subsidies from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection and the state of Lower Saxony. Added to this are own funds of over €1 billion.
Saltgitter AG had already commissioned the electric arc furnace. With the DRI plant, it has now ordered the largest sub-plant in the SALCOS® program.
