Australia’s Progressive Green Solutions (PGS) has selected Thyssenkrupp Nucera as its preferred supplier of electrolysers for the production of green hydrogen at the company’s Mid-West Green Iron project.
This project – which is subject to final investment decision – would produce 7 million tonnes of green iron pellets a year and convert half to make 2.5 million tonnes of green hot briquetted iron (HBI) in Western Australia’s Mid-West region, near the city of Geraldton.
HBI is a compressed form of direct reduced iron , which will be exported as a value-added product from Western Australia.
The plant is to be powered by renewable energy, consuming green hydrogen while using local magnetite iron ore. This will help to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90 %, compared with traditional steel production.
The flagship gigascale project aims to transform the region into a global centre for green iron production, with first export anticipated in 2029.
The project has an integrated supply chain from mine to port, utilising already established key infrastructure. PGS’s long-term goal is to produce and export up to 30 million tonnes of green pellets, plus 10 million tonnes of green HBI per year as it scales up.
Australia is currently not well placed for a green steel transition based on the available resources and set-up in its mining and steel sector, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Green iron production using the latest direct reduction (DR) technology requires higher-grade ore, but Australia’s iron ore supply is dominated by lower-grade ores.
“To remain competitive, Australia has two options. It can develop new magnetite mines capable of producing higher-grade ore; or it can deploy emerging technologies that enable use of its abundant low- to mid-grade ores. Both options will be necessary if Australia is to remain relevant amid rapidly intensifying global competition,” it stated.
The critical factor is time as both pathways will take years to develop.
“Even for the first option, where the technology already exists, developing new mines, as well as constructing the concentrate and pellet facilities we will need, can still take up to a decade,” it added.
“The most promising pathway for decarbonising primary steel production involves the production of DR iron using electric arc furnaces. The technology is already widely deployed in regions such as the US, India and the Middle East & North Africa. The mining and processing set-up for DRI feedstock is more complex than for conventional blast furnaces, which can use a wider range of iron ores.”
