National Science Agency, CSIRO has successfully launched hydrogen production technology in a pilot at Bluescope’s Port Kembla Steelworks in NSW. This initiative can be viable and affordable for decarbonising heavy industry. The production demonstrates renewable energy generation at a large scale.
CSIRO completed a 1000-hour tubular solid oxide electrolysis (SOC) trial with Bluescope Steel in October 2024.Conventional hydrogen electrolysers heavily rely on electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Whereas, CSIRO’s technology uses both waste heat along with electricity to produce hydrogen.
DR Sarb Giddey, CSIRO senior principal research scientist and leader believes the trial produced hydrogen with an electrical input of less than 36kWh per kilogram of hydrogen. It uses steam produced in the plant by the steelmaking processes.
According to him, this will be a game changer for the hydrogen industry as it will reduce electricity use. He said, ‘’Taking a new technology out of the lab and into the field can highlight unforeseen challenges. So we are delighted to see that our technology is meeting the performance requirements in terms of hydrogen production, electrical efficiency and reliability.’’
Meanwhile, Bluescope is proud to support the pilot project on-site. Chris Page, head of future technologies at BlueScope believes it to be an important pathway to net zero. The goal is low carbon emissions in the future in steelmaking. This advanced technology shows positive outcomes in the short-term operation. It will evolve in the future and serve the industry leading to global clean hydrogen tech providers.