Steelmaker Salzgitter agrees to buy green hydrogen supply from Uniper — but only if a 280km H2 pipeline is built

The pre-contract deal envisages the supply coming from 200MW of Uniper’s proposed 1GW Wilhelmshaven green hydrogen plant on Germany’s northwest coast, some 287km by road from Salzgitter’s steel plant in the city of Salzgitter, Lower Saxony.

However, the deal rests upon the Wilhelmhaven to Salzgitter leg of Germany’s proposed €20bn “core” hydrogen pipeline network being up and running on time, the pair warned.

“A pipeline connection from Wilhelmshaven to Salzgitter is absolutely essential and must be established as quickly as possible,” they said in a joint statement. “The pipeline operators and political decision-makers, together with Salzgitter AG and Uniper SE, urgently need to agree on an accelerated timetable for this.”

Dutch gas pipeline operator Gasunie and Germany’s Nowega plan to put in place a hydrogen pipeline from Wilhelmshaven to Salzgitter as part of the proposal, however it is not clear which parts of this project, if any, will be integrated into the core network.

Salzgitter’s DRI plants will replace polluting coking coal currently used in its blast furnaces to make iron for steelmaking, and will be introduced alongside three electric arc furnaces for steel production.

Salzgitter intends for the Salcos project to cut emissions from its steel production by 95% by 2033, shortly before the EU’s carbon trading programme phases out its free allowances in 2034.

However, the Uniper deal, if it is realised, would only account for a mere 13% of the 150,000 tonnes of green hydrogen Salzgitter says it needs to achieve this goal.

“The production and availability of green hydrogen is a key success criteria for Salcos,” Gunnar Groebler, Salzgitter AG’s chief executive, said. “This agreement with Uniper is therefore another important step on our path to green steel. The energy infrastructure and the associated power grids now urgently need to be expanded.”