BRUSSELS
Vale and Green Energy Park (GEP), an integrated European hydrogen company, will jointly develop solutions to decarbonize the global steel sector. As part of this partnership, the companies will conduct feasibility studies for the construction of a green hydrogen production facility to serve a future mega-hub in Brazil – an industrial complex producing low-carbon steel products. This initiative can provide an open platform for international partnerships to enable global steel companies to source and produce hot briquetted iron (HBI) in Brazil and promote the emerging low-carbon steel industry.
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Bart Biebuyck, CEO of Green Energy Park (Photo: Business Wire)
Vale has been actively seeking partners to build mega-hubs in Brazil that share its strategic goal of advancing the development of the country’s low-carbon industry. In these industrial hubs, Vale aims to produce iron ore agglomerates (pellets or briquettes) that will serve as feedstock for the production of HBI (a low-carbon steel precursor) using renewable hydrogen as a reducing agent. The agreement with GEP is another important step on this path.
“Brazil and Europe will only benefit from this partnership,” explains Ludmila Nascimento, Director of Energy and Decarbonization bei Vale. “We are leveraging Brazil’s competitive advantages such as high-quality iron ore and abundant renewable energy. In this way, we are developing the green hydrogen supply that will enable European steelmakers to deliver a “green” HBI of high added value. At the same time, we are promoting Brazil’s new industrialization based on a low-carbon economy and making our contribution to the fight against climate change.”
“The partnership with Vale is a significant milestone in our journey to net zero. We are delighted to be able to partner with the world’s largest producer of direct reduction pellets and contribute to the decarbonization of the steel sector. The collaboration between our companies is intended to make our leading green hydrogen technology available to the hard-to-decarbonize sectors and provide an extremely competitive platform for the production of green steel in Europe and around the globe,” commented Bart Biebuyck, CEO bei GEP. “Together we look forward to advancing the green hydrogen industry in Brazil.”
The iron and steel industry accounts for about 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions – primarily due to the use of coal in blast furnaces. The steel industry’s high carbon dioxide emissions pose a major challenge to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality in the economy by 2050.
For every tonne of steel produced in blast furnaces, around 2.0 tonnes of CO2 equivalent is released into the atmosphere. In the direct reduction process, however, carbon emissions are reduced to around 0.4 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per tonne of steel produced by the HBI produced in electric arc furnaces (EAF), which uses green hydrogen as a reducing agent – this value includes emissions from the entire value chain. Accordingly, the process reduces emissions by 80% and thus enables “green steel production”.
Vale and GEP, which is supported by the European Global Gateway program, will also cooperate on various aspects of the hydrogen value chain, such as the provision of electrolyzers, the planning of industrial plants for green hydrogen and its derivatives, and other industrial decarbonization applications of renewables Hydrogen.
To reduce costs, Green Energy Park will use state-of-the-art electrolyzer technologies on a standardized production platform. Green Energy Park’s integrated hydrogen production facility uses some of the most modern process engineering concepts, including storage and transshipment facilities for hydrogen and its derivatives. GEP brings in-depth engineering and EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) expertise in world-scale cryogenic gas production and storage, as well as highly specialized skills in infrastructure and industrial construction.
About Green Energy Park
Green Energy Park is an integrated hydrogen company implementing one of the largest climate protection projects in the world. The company’s goal is to develop, build and operate an infrastructure for hydrogen production. Ammonia and methanol are used as carriers for the long-distance transport of renewable energy. As a molecule specialist pursuing cost leadership, GEP deploys leading hydrogen technologies on its standardized gigawatt-scale production platform. Green Energy Park wants to help accelerate the energy transition and enable the transition to the hydrogen economy.
About Vale
Vale is a global mining company with the goal of improving people’s everyday lives and shaping the future together. Vale is one of the world’s largest iron ore and nickel producers and a major copper producer. The company is based in Brazil and operates worldwide. The company operates integrated logistics systems, including approximately 2,000 kilometers of railways, maritime terminals and 10 ports spread across the globe. Vale strives to be recognized by society as a benchmark for safety, as the most reliable operator in its industry, as a talent-driven company, as a leader in sustainable mining and as a benchmark for value creation and sharing.
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VALE
General inquiries:
Daniel Kaz, Media Relations Office
daniel.kaz@vale.com
GREEN ENERGY PARK
General inquiries:
Loreta Pacipaviciute, Media Relations Office
media@gep-global.com
Investor Relations:
Mario Reinisch, CFO
mario@gep-global.com
