Tata Steel Partners with Three Dutch Companies for Hydrogen-Based Steel

Tata Steel Nederland has inked agreements with three Dutch companies – McDermott, Danieli and Hatch – to form an Integrated Project Management Team (IPMT) to shape and manage the execution of project Heracless, that will employ hydrogen for the manufacturing of steel at its Ijmuiden facility 30 kilometers east of Amsterdam.

The Tata project is focused on the implementation of Direct Reduced Iron Plant (DRP) and Reducing Electrical Furnace (REF) technology at the facility as the basis for Tata Steel’s sustainable hydrogen-based steel production.

The three companies will contribute their specific expertise that will collectively help Tata to produce green steel. It said that the initial cost would be EUR 65 million. Tata Steel’s internal project and sustainability team will be in the lead role for the project while the three companies will support closely.

McDermott will provide construction input along with technical project management. Danieli will offer engineering design for the manufacturing plant. It will also impart technology that realises Direct Reduced Iron (DRI). Hatch has technology license of the electric furnaces where the DRI is molten, oxygen content is reduced and steel quality is improved.

Annemarie Manger, Sustainability Director of Tata Steel, said, “What we do is a complicated and unique operation. The new plants will be built on our site while all the current plants will remain in operation until the new installations are up and running. That requires intense integration between facilities and close collaboration between all parties and our people. The coalition that is now formed with McDermott, together with suppliers such as Danieli and Hatch, marks the start of the basic engineering to define our plans more specifically.”

Tareq Kawash, Senior VP, Onshore of McDermott, added, “Decades of experience executing mega-scale projects from concept to delivery combined with our ability to leverage knowledge from one phase to the next, make us the ideal partner to jointly develop and manage this innovative project. We look forward to continuing to work with Tata Steel to reduce emissions and progress their strategic roadmap toward carbon-neutral steel production by 2050.”