The plant will combine Primetals Technologies’ Hydrogen-based Fine-Ore Reduction (HYFOR®) process with its Smelter technology, targeting the production of hot-briquetted iron, hot metal, and pig iron with the potential for net-zero CO₂ emissions. Scheduled to start up at the end of 2027, it will have a capacity of 3 tonnes per hour.
HYFOR is the world’s first direct reduction process for iron ore fines, eliminating the need for agglomeration. Together with the Smelter, a renewable-powered furnace that melts and completes reduction to hot metal, the process aims to provide a low-emissions alternative to coal-fired blast furnaces. Certified green hydrogen from voestalpine’s existing H2Future electrolysis plant will be used to demonstrate the pathway to carbon-neutral steel production.
Rio Tinto will supply 70% of the iron ore feedstock and technical support, while Mitsubishi Corporation has joined as a co-investor. Funding is being provided by the Austrian government and the European Union through several clean industry and hydrogen programmes. Commercial availability of the HYFOR and Smelter technologies is expected from 2028.
