World's largest hydrogen-powered direct reduction plant (DRI) for green iron opened in Lingen
The DRI of the operator HyIron reduces iron ore with the help of green hydrogen in a climate-neutral manner
The Lower Saxony Environment Ministry is funding the construction of the plant with three million euros

With the support of the state of Lower Saxony, the CO2GRAB / HyIron has now taken a giant step towards meeting the challenge of decarbonising the steel industry. With the commissioning of the world's largest direct reduction plant on the site of the RWE gas power plant in Emsland, iron ore can be reduced solely with the help of green hydrogen, and thus completely climate-neutral. The Lower Saxony Environment Ministry is funding the construction of the plant with three million euros. Involved in the project alongside HyIron: the companies RWE and Benteler Steel/Tube. With this project, the project partners will also test the use of so-called green sponge iron in steel production from 2024. This is then melted down with steel scrap and further processed into steel. Benteler Steel/Tube wants to use the steel produced in Lingen to produce low-CO2 tubes. As part of the research project, the first step is to produce more than a tonne of green iron/hour with the help of green hydrogen. "A lighthouse project with the world's largest hydrogen direct reduction plant for the production of green iron is now starting at the Lingen site," the partners explained in a joint statement.

“The start-up of the pilot production at the Lingen site is an important milestone for us in order to bring the “green iron” product to market maturity and to establish German technology worldwide. In Namibia, we are currently setting up production on an industrial scale with the support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK). In the long term, we can produce up to two million tons of iron there for the German steel industry. Here in Lingen we are already using iron ore from Namibia to optimize the process and the product.” dr Stephan Köhne, managing partner of HyIron This innovative process is made possible by the development of our own gas-tight rotary kiln. Here, hydrogen fully reacts with the oxygen in the iron ore , converting it to elemental iron (direct reduced iron (DRI)). Thanks to this technology, instead of carbon dioxide, only water vapor is produced, which can be used again to produce hydrogen. This cycle represents another decisive advantage on the way to the sustainable production of iron.

"The commissioning of this direct reduction plant is an important step on the way to a climate-neutral economy. The use of green hydrogen in steel production shows that technological innovations can make a significant contribution to protecting our environment. The successful implementation of this project also underlines the attractiveness of Lower Saxony as a location for the future technology of hydrogen and underpins Lower Saxony's path to becoming the No. 1 green hydrogen state in Germany." Christian Meyer, Nds. Minister for Environment and Energy

The HyIron technology enables the use of global potential for climate-neutral iron production. Mechanisms such as climate protection agreements also make it possible to establish the production of these important raw materials in Germany on a sustainable basis. The location decision for Lingen was made due to the high density of hydrogen projects in the Emsland H2 region in general and specifically at the RWE gas power plant site in Emsland. In the future, the green hydrogen for HyIron will be generated in RWE's 14-megawatt pilot electrolysis, which is expected to go into operation at the end of 2023 right next to the direct reduction plant. The Lower Saxony Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Climate Protection is funding the construction of the pilot electrolysis with eight million euros.

"With the direct reduction plant for green iron, the potential for innovations in Emsland is once again evident. With the excellent prerequisites of active companies, a strong network, support from regional politics and the right infrastructure, it is not for nothing that we are an important location for the hydrogen economy." Marc-André Burgdorf, District Administrator of the Emsland district

"Lingen is already one of the most important energy locations and pioneers for green hydrogen in Germany. With the new hydrogen direct reduction plant for the production of green iron, we are setting global standards in Lingen for climate-neutral steel production - a milestone in the decarbonization of this important branch of industry." Dieter Krone, Mayor of the City of Lingen

Green Iron in Lingen: RWE Opens "World's Largest" Hydrogen-Powered Direct Reduction DRI Plant