Saudi Arabia's current direct reduced iron production via natural gas can be converted to zero-carbon iron with green hydrogen replacement. The country has excellent solar and wind energy potential, said participants at the Saudi International Iron & Steel Conference in Riyadh this week, for which Kallanish was programme partner.

Hadeed and Al Ittefaq produce DRI in Saudi Arabia. The former has five modules with a yearly production capacity of 5.5 million tonnes, and the latter two modules with a capacity of 1.45m t/year.

In 2021, Saudi Arabia recorded DRI production growth of 18.1% on-year to rank fourth in the world at 6.13mt.

Nadhmi Al-Nasr, chief executive of prospective Saudi city Neom, said at the event: "Saudi Arabia's futuristic project Neom city hosts the world's largest green hydrogen project, expected to commence production in 2026 at an investment cost of $6.5 billion with 650 t/day green hydrogen production capacity.”

Meanwhile, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) concurs with the opinion that the Middle East is fertile ground for green ironmaking in a new report.

"As the global steel industry eyes switching to direct reduced iron production and using green hydrogen to reduce emissions, the MENA region can lead global steel decarbonisation with investment in green hydrogen and renewable energy," says IEEFA’s Soroush Basirat. "The DRI-EAF process, which uses syngas made from natural gas or gasified coal and also electricity, could be zero emissions if green hydrogen (produced using renewable energy-powered electrolysis) and electric arc furnaces powered by renewable energy were used." 

“A switch from gas-fuelled DRI to green hydrogen could commence ahead of other regions. Initially, it would be possible to replace 30% of gas with hydrogen in the incumbent fleet of DR plants without any major equipment modifications," Basirat adds. “Having access to such high solar energy resources allows for the production of green hydrogen at a competitive price. With MENA’s available capacity, producing green hydrogen below $1/kg is achievable by 2050. With the European Union soon establishing a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, MENA steel exports would have an advantage if they were zero carbon.”