The production was carried out using infrastructure provided by a green hydrogen production facility and a direct hydrogen reduction test facility established under the Hydrogen Society Construction Technology Development Project led by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The pilot production was based on the integrated development of green hydrogen production and utilization technologies.
As part of the project to develop direct hydrogen reduction technology, JFE Steel established a small-scale pilot plant with a production capacity of 15 kilograms per hour at its East Japan Works (Chiba). Hydrogen reduction tests at the facility began in December 2024.
The green hydrogen used in the trials was produced using renewable energy at the Yonekura-yama Energy Storage Technology Research Site in Yamanashi Prefecture under NEDO's "CO₂-free Hydrogen Society" project. Hydrogen produced through a 1.5 MW PEM water electrolysis system was transported as high-pressure hydrogen gas to the pilot plant in Chiba via Yamanashi Hydrogen Company (YHC) and Tomoe Shokai.
During the trials conducted between June 29 and July 1, approximately 1 mt of direct reduced iron was produced. The project confirmed that iron ore can be reduced through a stable reduction reaction using green hydrogen.
The project is being carried out under the Hydrogen Steelmaking Consortium (GREINS), established in 2022 by Nippon Steel, JFE Steel, Kobe Steel, and the Japan Research and Development Center for Metals (JRCM). The consortium is focused on developing technologies to reduce carbon emissions from steel production and promoting their implementation.
As part of the project, two direct reduction test facilities with different scales and specifications were constructed, while development work on direct hydrogen reduction technology began in fiscal year 2024.
NEDO stated that it will continue the project to facilitate the commercial deployment of the developed technologies. The organization also noted that achieving carbon neutrality in the steel industry will require not only low-cost and large-scale hydrogen supply, but also the development of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies.
JFE Steel also announced that, under its 8th Medium-Term Management Plan, it is continuing to develop carbon-neutral steelmaking technologies with support from the Green Innovation Fund. In addition to green hydrogen-based direct reduction technology, the company is also advancing carbon-recycling blast furnace technologies, aiming to develop carbon-neutral production technologies around 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
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