The Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT) has
updated its Green Steel Tracker, a vital tool for monitoring and advancing
low-carbon primary steel production worldwide. This latest release reveals a
slowdown in new project announcements in Europe, but a wider spread of new
investments globally.
Key insights:
·
The latest data includes nine new projects with only two in
Europe, suggesting a global shift in investment.
·
After a surge in project announcements from 2020 to 2021, the
pace has slowed. For comparison, there were 36 new investments in 2021
alone.
·
For the first time, a Chinese steelmaker has announced the
technology used and detailed its investment in a full-scale green hydrogen
direct reduction facility.
·
Hydrogen direct reduction (H-DRI) remains the dominant
technology in the Green Steel Tracker.
·
While the tracker features 99 projects globally, not all align
strongly with a company strategy to achieve net-zero emission by 2050.
“We see an encouraging trend that
green steel investment announcements are spreading globally with more and more
projects outside the EU. However, this positive development for green steel
needs to further accelerate as new investments in unmitigated coal-based blast
furnaces are still being made in growing economies despite their large
emissions”, commented Max
Åhman, Associate Professor (Docent) and Head of Division, Environment &
Energy Systems at Lund University.
The updated Green Steel Tracker,
which includes data on all 99 projects, is available for free
download on LeadIT’s website. The tool actively
monitors publicly announced investments in primary steel production,
revealing insights into the evolving landscape of green projects.
Notably, the latest data
highlights two new project announcements in Germany, the only new investments
in Europe, a region that previously dominated the tracker. In a
significant development, China, the world’s largest steel producer, has
disclosed for the first time detailed information about a major green steel
project. This is an investment of USD 683 million by HBIS Group in a green
hydrogen direct reduction (H-DRI) project in Naiman Banner, Inner Mongolia.
H-DRI using renewably sourced hydrogen remains the dominant technology in new
green steel projects. This trend is evident in the latest project announcements
beyond Europe, including a major initiative from Oman aimed at utilizing H-DRI
in a location with potential renewable energy sources.
The data indicates a slight
decrease in the pace of green steel project announcements from 2023 to 2024,
compared to the boom in announcements from 2020 to 2021.
Reflecting on this trend, Per Andersson, Head of the LeadIT
Secretariat, said, “We observe more new green steel
projects being announced outside Europe for the first time. Do we see a growing
confidence in technologies demonstrated in Europe in the last few years –
maybe?”
Diving into the renewed methodology
In late 2023, LeadIT refined the Green Steel Tracker methodology to provide
users with more detailed information for assessing transparency, trends and
developments in low-carbon project announcements across the iron and steel
industry. Projects are now categorized based on their level of detail in
relation to timeline, planned capacity, investment, technology used and:
·
potential to achieve at least 85% CO2 emission reductions
compared to average steelmaking emissions.
·
coal or fossil-based projects that need complementary carbon
capture and storage to exceed 50 to 60% emissions reductions, including
hydrogen production projects that lack direct ties to iron and steel
manufacturing.
Some projects that were
previously included in the tracker which no longer meet the revised
methodology, or have seen limited recent traction, have been filtered and
transferred to a separate dataset. This restructuring allows users to clearly
identify active projects while maintaining visibility on those considered
inactive. Inactive projects are still tracked in case of future
developments.
For further details, please refer
to the Green Steel Tracker methodology and
our comprehensive Q&A,
which defines and debunks myths surrounding green steel projects.
Collaboration to safeguard data
LeadIT is collaborating with experts at Lund University, Sweden
to ensure the integrity of data and alignment of data with the tracker
methodology. Prior to publication the dataset underwent rigorous review by the
Lund University team. This collaboration has enriched the analysis presented in
this press release, affirming the tracker's transparency and robustness.
Media contacts
·
Eileen Torres Morales, Analyst and Transition Trackers Lead,
LeadIT, eileen.torres@sei.org, +46 73 707 85 65
·
Jane Birch, Communications & Impact Lead, LeadIT, jane.birch@sei.org, +46
722 14 96 16
·
Max Åhman, Associate Professor, Lund University, max.ahman@miljo.lth.se,
+46 46 222 95 43
·
Jonas Algers, PhD student, Lund University, jonas.algers@miljo.lth.se, +45 60 65 87
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About the Green Steel Tracker
The Green Steel Tracker aims to support decision-makers
in policy and industry, academia as well as civil society, by tracking public
announcements of low-carbon investments in the steel industry and presenting
them transparently in one place.
About LeadIT
The Leadership
Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT) was launched by the
prime ministers of Sweden and India at the UN Secretary General’s Climate
Action Summit in 2019. LeadIT brings together countries and companies committed
to achieving net-zero carbon emissions from industry by 2050 and is supported
by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The LeadIT Secretariat is hosted by the
Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and manages the work of the Leadership
Group.
We see an encouraging
trend that green steel investment announcements are spreading globally with
more and more projects outside the EU. However, this positive development for
green steel needs to further accelerate as new investments in unmitigated
coal-based blast furnaces are still being made in growing economies despite
their large emissions.