Masdar and EMSTEEL complete project using green hydrogen to produce steel

Masdar, the UAE’s clean energy powerhouse, and EMSTEEL, the UAE’s largest publicly listed steel and building materials company, have announced the successful completion of a pilot project demonstrating the use of green hydrogen to produce green steel.

The Abu Dhabi-based pilot project, the first-of-its-kind in the Middle East and North African region, uses green hydrogen to extract iron from iron ore, a key step in steelmaking. The pilot project is now fully operational and has successfully commenced the production of green steel.

The renewable hydrogen produced by the project has been certified by Avance Labs, the hydrogen code manager accredited by the International Tracking Standard Foundation, in accordance with the recently released ISO 19870 methodology for hydrogen. The certification data was validated by Bureau Veritas, acting as the third-party assurance provider.

Steel production is a very important industry in the UAE. However, as it is carbon-intensive and hard to abate, the sector globally contributes between seven and eight percent of worldwide carbon emissions. Decarbonizing this industry is therefore essential to propelling the world towards a net-zero future.

Rising global demand for green steel presents huge growth potential for the UAE, as the country aspires to be a major green steel production hub. The use of sustainable building materials, including steel, is being promoted through the National Green Certificates Program, launched by the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure in July 2024.

The partnership between Masdar and EMSTEEL has demonstrated the potential for green hydrogen to decarbonize the global steel value chain, whilst demonstrating how clean energy and heavy industry partners in the UAE are collaborating and taking urgent action to accelerate the energy transition.

The pilot project aligns with Abu Dhabi’s Low Carbon Hydrogen Policy which promotes low-carbon hydrogen as a future clean energy source, constituting a significant milestone towards ensuring economic growth, sustainability, and energy security and a strategic step towards a sustainable future. The Low Carbon Hydrogen Policy complements the UAE National Hydrogen Strategy, which seeks to establish the UAE as a leading global producer of low carbon hydrogen by 2031.