Opportunity and Challenges for Australian Green Steel

August 25th, 2023

R&D Focus Areas:
Industrial heat processes, Techno-economic evaluation

Lead Organisation:
Geoscience Australia

Partners:
Monash University

Status:
Completed

Start date:
July 2022

Completion date:
June 2024

Key contacts:
Lead Investigator: Dr Marcus Haynes: marcus.haynes@ga.gov.au

Funding:
The project is funded under the Exploring for the Future Program.

Project total cost:
Not applicable

Project summary description:
Steelmaking value chains are economically important to Australia, but the need to decarbonise traditional steel-making processes could disrupt existing supply lines. Hydrogen-based iron and steel production offer a pathway for reducing the carbon intensity of steel. The opportunities and challenges presented by this technology, for Australia, have been obscured because the cost competitiveness depends on the interaction between multiple industrial processes, including feedstock requirements, the availability of infrastructure, as well as energy and hydrogen storage options.

To address these problems, a Green Steel Economic Fairways Mapper was developed. Focusing on the hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (DRI) to electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route, this mapping tool enables user-driven assessments of the green iron or steel resource potential across Australia. The tool optimises system capacities for renewable energy generation, battery storage, hydrogen electrolysis, and hydrogen storage to estimate the levelised costs of green steel and how these costs vary regionally.

The Green Steel Economic Fairways Mapper (https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/greensteel) is a free, online toolkit for rapid, high-level economic modelling of potential green iron and/or steelmaking projects in Australia. It provides pre-competitive information and analysis to better understand the competitive advantage offered by existing infrastructure, known mineral endowment, and renewable energy potential. The Mapper provides a capability to help inform decision-makers across industry, government, finance, and the public regarding Australia’s green steel potential. In the development of the Mapper, the following project objectives were met:

  1. Delivered a novel capability for integrated, spatial assessment of H2-DRI-EAF green steel production potential across Australia.
  2. Identified the main opportunities, barriers and value-chain potential for H2-DRI-EAF, including Australia’s distinct advantages.
  3. Provided open access to new tools and modelling capabilities for industry, government and the public.
  4. Demonstrated a case study analysis of how far down the value chain Australia should go, highlighting the potential cost-competitiveness of an Australian green steel industry and of the early opportunities for green iron production.

Related publications and key links:
Wang, C., Walsh, S.D.C., Haynes, M., Weng, Z., Feitz, A., Summerfield, D. and Lutalo, I. 2022. From Australian iron ore to green steel: the opportunity for technology-driven decarbonisation. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/147005

Wang, C., Walsh, S. D., Weng, Z., Haynes, M. W., Summerfield, D., and Feitz, A. 2023. Green steel: Synergies between the Australian iron ore industry and the production of green hydrogen. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.05.041

Wang, C., Feitz, A., Haynes, M., Walsh, S. and Weng, Z. 2023. Picture this: green hydrogen plants next to green steelworks to boost efficiency and kickstart both industries. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/picture-this-green-hydrogen-plants-next-to-green-steelworks-to-boost-efficiency-and-kickstart-both-industries-205845

Anastasi K., Weng Z., Feitz A., Grubnic P., Simkus C., Walsh S.D.C., Wang C., Haynes M.W., Dwyer D. & Selway J., 2023. Geoscience towards net zero – Advancing Australia’s Green Steel potential workshop. 30 August, Perth. https://youtu.be/scm1WPrsIHE?si=ChOSHPlzi6l-N5zg

Haynes M.W., Wang C., Walsh S.D.C., Weng Z. & Feitz A., 2024. The Green Steel Economic Fairways Mapper. In: Czarnota K. (ed.), Exploring for the Future Extended Abstracts. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://doi.org/10.26186/149249

Haynes M.W., 2024. The Green Steel Economic Fairways Mapper. Wednesday Seminar Series. Geoscience Australia, 15 May, Canberra. https://youtu.be/y9yOz5Ab4KQ?si=_4up9NDDzaYB075n

Haynes M., Wang C., Walsh S.D.C., Weng Z. & Feitz A., 2024. Levelised costs for green ironmaking and steelmaking across Australia. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://doi.org/10.26186/149288

Wang C., Walsh S.D.C., Haynes M.W., Weng Z. & Feitz A., In press. Green Steel Supply Chain Options Between Australia and Japan. In: Czarnota K. (ed.), Exploring for the Future Extended Abstracts. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. https://doi.org/10.26186/149413

The Green Steel Economic Fairways Mapper. https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/greensteel

Higher degree studies supported:
Not applicable

 

Reviewed: August 2024