The HyIS Forum, which was held in Seoul last year, took place in Sweden this year. SSAB, a Swedish steel company founded in 1978, produces one ton of hydrogen reduction iron an hour with the world’s first shaft-type hydrogen reduction steelmaking pilot facility. This forum was held jointly after CEO Jeong-woo Choi met with Swedish Ambassador to Korea Daniel Bolven to propose co-hosting the event in February.

▲ The Fotografiska photo exhibition hall (left), in Stockholm, Sweden, where the HyIS Forum was held, and a ferry, a major means of transportation in Sweden

The HyIS Forum was held in Stockholm on the east coast of Sweden. This is an “island city,” with a central area consisting of 15 islands. Since 30% of the city is connected by waterways, the main means of transportation is ferries. Forum participants also arrived at the venue by ferry.

People are entering one after another at Stockholm’s famous photo exhibition hall, Fotografiska. Fotografiska is in a four-story red brick building that was renovated from an old customs office, and is a photographic exhibition hall filled with a simple yet sensuous Nordic sensibility. The HyIS Forum, which shared future technologies that accelerate hydrogen reduction iron and steel making, was held here.

▲ The companies participating in the HyIS Forum register to participate.

Various value chain companies, from raw material companies to engineering companies and hydrogen companies, participated in this forum. Entering the forum, steelmakers, hydrogen raw materials companies, energy companies, engineering companies, and customer experts invited by POSCO and SSAB were seen registering to participate in the forum.

▲ SSAB Chairman Martin Lindqvist (left) and POSCO Vice Chairman & CEO Hag-dong Kim (right).

First, SSAB Chairman Martin Lindqvist announced the opening of the forum with a welcome address.

Chairman Lindqvist said “Nobody believed hydrogen reduction steelmaking was possible, but we developed and produced steel that we did not use fossil fuels for. By commercializing and delivering it to customers,, they could also supply carbon-free products to end users, and they are responding very well. Change is difficult, but we have to continuously make efforts for the next generation.” Next, POSCO Vice Chairman & CEO Hag-dong Kim, greeted the opening ceremony, saying, “I just want to thank everybody here today.”

▲ Video of opening speech by CEO Jeong-woo Choi of POSCO Group

Next, POSCO Group CEO Jeong-woo Choi gave an opening speech by video. Forum participants concentrated on the message of CEO Choi. CEO Choi said in his opening speech, “No one can solve common problems of humanity faced by the international community, such as climate response, without solidarity and cooperation.. Everybody knows the key to solving the carbon emissions problem in the steel industry is hydrogen reduction steelmaking, but it is a very challenging goal, and we cannot achieve it if we go it alone. If everyone here agrees to go on that path together, the era of net-zero carbon emissions will be accelerated, and mankind will once again leap forward and move toward a better future.”

▲ Video congratulatory message by Young-chang Joo, head of the Science, Technology and Innovation Headquarters of the Ministry of Science and ICT

Vice Minister Young-chang Joo of the Science, Technology and Innovation Headquarters of the Ministry of Science and ICT, sent a congratulatory message. ”The Korean government will actively support carbon Reduction technology innovation by companies and play a responsible role for mankind to live a safe life from climate change. I hope the HyIS Forum, in which steel experts all over the world gather and discuss hydrogen reduction steelmaking technologies and policies, will be the global pivot that leads to the realization of net-zero carbon emissions in the steel industry,” he said.

Along with Young-chang Joo from the Ministry of Science and ICT, Mattias Frumerie from the Swedish Ministry of Environment, Kimmo Viertola, secretary general of the Finnish Government Ownership Steering Department, Tae-youk Ha, the Korean ambassador to Sweden, and Edwin Basson, secretary general of the World Steel Association (WSA) congratulated the attendees on the successful holding of the forum, and hoped for cooperation and global solidarity between value chains to accelerate hydrogen reduction steelmaking.

The hydrogen reduction steel forum was held in a hybrid form where on-site attendance and online participation were held simultaneously. The interior of the forum was decorated in the form of a broadcasting studio, and the online broadcast was smooth, and the HyIS forum could be viewed in real time anywhere in the world. About 150 people participated in the forum and 1,300 people participated online.

▲ European Commission Director Joaquim Nunes de Almeida (left) and SSAB CTO Martin Pei (right)

Related policies and future policy directions and technologies were shared in the forum. In the keynote session on the first day, Lord Adair Turner, chairperson of Energy Transition Commission (ETC) and European Commission Director Joaquim Nunes de Almeida, explained the status of European energy and shared future policies.

Also, SSAB CTO Martin Pei, presented the roadmap of HYBRIT technology development and the future vision. SSAB produces one ton of hydrogen reduction iron an hour with the HYBRIT facility and succeeded in the first mass supply of low-carbon steel and supplied it to Volvo Group.

▲ Se-don Choo, head of POSCO Technical Research Laboratories, explained POSCO’s HyREX technology.

Joo explained POSCO’s HyREX technology that produces molten metal using fine iron ores and hydrogen and the HyREX R&D partnership. HyREX technology uses fine iron ores directly without processing, and so the range of usable iron ore is larger and more economical than the shaft furnace method that uses pellets. Joo explained the excellence of HyREX, whose demo plant was designed in August this year and announced a plan to form an R&D partnership. He also announced that POSCO will promote joint technology development with steelmakers, raw material companies and engineering companies.

▲ Martin Lindqvist, chairman of SSAB, and Lord Adair Turner, chairperson of the ETC, listen to the announcement.

▲ Global steelmaker staff members answering audience questions

This forum was innovative and broke the forum framework. The forum was in the form of “many-to-many discussions” to ask and answer questions with the host, away from the existing simple “one-to-one presentation.” Officials from related organizations were invited to the podium to ask questions and discuss with the host.

They introduced the hydrogen reduction steelmaking strategy of each steelmaker and answered questions from the host and audience. The panelists in the customer companies’ session held up cards to answer the host’s multiple choice questions and explained why. In addition, various organizations, including △ the Carbon Neutral Initiative, △ raw material companies, △ energy companies, △ hydrogen companies, △ engineering companies, △ SSAB R&D Center, △ Korea University, and △ Carnegie Mellon University, participated in the forum and gave extensive presentations and debated net-zero carbon emissions in the steel industry. Meaningful communication was achieved by selecting questions from online as well as on-site participants and giving them to the panel participants.

The forum format was somewhat unfamiliar, but it was well received that different speakers could hear different opinions on common questions in one place, and that speakers and audiences could communicate in various forms to hear more vivid voices on the scene.

▲ The VIPs of POSCO and SSAB take a commemorative photograph. From left, Dong-joon Min, a Yonsei University professor, Jun H. Goh, head of POSRI, Se-don Choo, head of POSCO Technical Research Laboratories, Mattias Frumerie from the Swedish Ministry of Environment, Joaquim Nunes de Almeida, director of the European Commission, Martin Lindqvist, chairman of SSAB, Lord Adair Turner, chairperson of the ETC, Hag-dong Kim, vice chairman & CEO of POSCO, Tae-youk Ha, the Korean ambassador to Sweden, Edwin Basson, secretary general of the World Steel Association (WSA), and Dae-ryong Ha, head of POSCO-Europe.

▲ POSCO press conference where Korean press correspondents in Europe were invited

POSCO held a press conference and invited Korean press correspondents in Europe. In the conference, Se-don Joo, head of POSCO R&D Center, Hee Kim, an executive responsible for the Carbon Reduction Strategy, and Jin-woo Park, an executive responsible for the PR of POSCO Holdings, participated and introduced the excellence of POSCO’s hydrogen reduction steelmaking technologies and the significance of the HyIS Forum.

▲ Industry officials have a business meeting in the exhibition halls of products and technologies of POSCO and SSAB.

During each coffee break time between sessions, the forum participants held a business meeting in the exhibition halls of products and technologies of POSCO and SSAB and shared industry trends. SSAB’s product exhibition hall featured the world’s first fossil-fuel-free iron and Sustainable steel.

▲ The exhibition hall of POSCO products where a “fluidized reduction furnace” that produces steel with hydrogen is introduced

In the exhibition hall of POSCO products, the HyREX model was exhibited and a video that publicized hydrogen reduction steelmaking technology and Sustainable products was shown on a large screen, introducing POSCO’s Carbon Reduction policy and vision in detail.

▲ Forum participants visited the HYBRIT plant of SSAB.

The enthusiasm for hydrogen reduction steelmaking continued even after the forum ended. On October 14, several forum attendees visited SSAB’s HYBRIT plant in Lulea. The participants who visited the plant where products were produced 100% using renewable electricity and low-carbon hydrogen continuously expressed admiration.

The HyIS Forum, which announced to the world POSCO’s will for carbon Reduction and technologies in Europe, which led the carbon Reduction trend, was very heated. POSCO will not stop on the way to net-zero carbon emissions and will expand global cooperation.

l Opening the World’s first Hydrogen Iron & Steel Making Forum

HyIS 2021 conducted a keynote speech and policy • technology • collaboration sessions at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas Hotel for two days from October 6 to 7, and a Pohang Works Tour on October 8, the last day.

▲ President Jae-in Moon delivering a video congratulatory speech at the HyIS 2021 Forum opened on October 6.

HyIS 2021 began with a congratulatory message by President Jae-in Moon on October 6, the first day. President Moon welcomed HyIS 2021 attendees through the video and emphasized the important role of steelmakers at an important starting point in human history of Carbon Neutrality. And he said that Korea will act first and cooperate with the world to lay the foundation for hydrogen ecosystems including hydrogen-based steelmaking technology and to overcome the climate crisis.

▲ POSCO Group CEO Jeong-woo Choi giving an opening speech at HyIS 2021 forum.

Then, in the keynote speech by CEO Jeong-woo Choi, he emphasized that iron is an Sustainable material with lower carbon emissions per unit and higher recycling rates than other materials such as aluminum. However, he said steel plays a big role in Carbon Neutrality due to its enormous production compared to materials such as aluminum. And he added that as it takes a lot of money and time to make a breakthrough in hydrogen-based steelmaking technology, cooperation between steelmakers, support from the government and society are important and expect to gain momentum through this forum.

▲ Sung-wook Moon, a minister of The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Sung-hwan Kim, a member of the National Assembly (on the right) giving a congratulatory speech for the opening.

Sung-wook Moon, a minister of The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Sung-hwan Kim, a member of the National Assembly congratulated the start of HyIS 2021 and said that they would join the first step in the hydrogen-based steelmaking technology method which will change the fate of the Earth, including the establishment of hydrogen infrastructure and policy coordination in the steel industry.

l Bringing up the topic of the successful transition to the carbon neutral steel industry

▲ Edwin Basson, the director general of the World Steel Association giving a keynote speech.

The keynote speech was given over two days by a total of eight speakers by sector, including the World Steel Association, the Australian government, steelmakers, and energy companies. The keynote speech began with Edwin Basson, the director general of the World Steel Association. Edwin Basson, the director general introduced the “Step-up Programme,” which has been in effect since 2019, saying that the steel industry, which accounts for about 7% of the world’s carbon emissions, should speed up the transition to low carbon in order to keep the global temperature rise within 1.5℃ since the 2015 Paris Agreement. The Step-up Programme consists of four stages including △ Improving raw material quality, △ Improving energy efficiency, △ increasing product yield, and △ improving process reliability. Edwin Basson, the director general said, “Let’s work together to achieve the goal of Carbon Neutrality through participation encompassing both inside and outside the industry.”

▲ Janjua, Head of Technology at World Steel Association, who is in charge of the ‘Step-up Programme’ to reduce carbon emissions giving a keynote speech.

Rizwan Janjua, Head of Technology at World Steel Association is in charge of the Step-up programme introduced by the director general Basson. In his keynote speech on the 7th, he emphasized the importance of collaborations beyond the fields of the energy industry, investors, and policy makers and continuous investment and R&D to achieve technological breakthroughs, as the steel industry is a huge supplier and consumer at the same time and also a part of the industrial ecosystem. He said that open communication is more important, especially as resources and energy are geographically biased.

Steelmakers facing the task of reducing carbon emissions in the production process also raised important topics through a keynote speech. Martin Wenguo Pei, a Chief Technology Officer of Swedish steelmaker SSAB, introduced HYBRIT (Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology) technology developed jointly by LKAB, an iron ore producing company and Vattenfal, an energy company and Sweden’s carbon neutral model.

▲ Martin Wenguo Pei, a Chief Technology Officer of SSAB and Duk-lak Lee, Head of Technical Research Laboratories of POSCO (on the right).

Duk-Lak Lee, Head of Technical Research Laboratories gave a presentation on POSCO’s carbon neutral policy and HyREX (Hydrogen Reduction Steelmaking) technology. HyREX uses POSCO’s fluidized furnace technology accumulated through FINEX, so it uses the iron powder as it is, while SSAB’s HYBRIT is based on a direct reduction shaft furnace and uses iron ore processed in the form of pellets. Except that the two methods utilize the same principle of hydrogen reduction, their characteristics are clearly different. Duk-lak Lee, Head of Technical Research Laboratories took the time to find the implications for the difference in technology between the two companies, asking Pei, a Chief Technology Officer, which heating method is used to compensate for the heat loss in the hydrogen reduction reaction.

▲ Neil Kavanagh, the Chief Scientist at Woodside Energy Ltd., emphasizing the urgent need to build enormous energy and infrastructure for production, transportation, and storage of hydrogen before the commercialization of the hydrogen-based steelmaking technology method

Regardless of the type of hydrogen-based steelmaking technology method, the common task to be solved is the enormous amount of energy and infrastructure required for the production, transportation, and storage of hydrogen. Alan Finkel, a Special Advisor to the Australian Government on Low Emissions Technologies, and Neil Kavanagh, the Chief Scientist at Woodside Energy Ltd., an Australian natural gas producing company, predicted the possibility in a keynote speech. Hydrogen is a high-density energy source that generates more energy than the same amount of petroleum, but there are many challenges such as the need to use renewable energy while excluding fossil fuels in the process of generating the power needed to electrolyze water and the need for special facilities and energy such as liquefaction processes for storage and transportation. And the two keynote speakers found a way to solve this challenge in close cooperation between industry and government like other speakers did.

l A collaborative forum transcending different fields, finding a breakthrough together

The cooperative forum went into a detailed discussion and led to sessions by field. In order to comply with the COVID-19 quarantine guidelines, only a limited number of people were able to attend the scene, but people from various countries and at different time zones were able to freely present and ask questions through video conference. The speakers greeted the attendees with the greetings of the morning, afternoon, and evening at the time of their respective locations, presenting and discussing Policy, Technology, and Collaboration sessions through the screen at the HyIS 2021 site.

▲ Axel Eggert, the Director General of the European Steel Association (EUROFER) explaining the carbon neutral policy of Europe and directions for countermeasure in the steel industry.

The Policy session was attended by the European Steel Association (EUROFER) and the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) to discuss carbon neutral policies in the steel industry of each country. They introduced policies that reflect the characteristics of each country and region, such as a European Green Deal*, Fit for 55*, and Japan’s declaration of the realization of a decarbonization society by 2050.
*Green Deal: European Union’s policy aimed at achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2050.
*Fit for 55: A plan to reduce the average carbon emissions of the European Union by 2030 to 55% of 1990 level.

▲ At the Technology session held on October 6th, Ki-soo Kim, head of POSCO’s Process and Engineering R&D Center, is asking Tim Peeters, department manager of ironmaking R&D of Tata Steel Europe, about Tata Steel Europe’s decarbonization strategy.

100% hydrogen-based steelmaking technology is a future that has yet to come and steelmakers are applying a method of improving the efficiency of existing methods and incorporating new technologies based on their know-how and strengths. Therefore, in the Technology session, they had time to meet the current status of steelmakers’ efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

In the transition period to hydrogen-based steelmaking, the common points that steelmakers are paying attention to are the increase in the use of scrap to reduce carbon emissions and the increase in the proportion of electric furnaces. However, while global steel demand is expected to increase, electric furnace alone is not enough. The steelmakers said that they are operating a roadmap to reduce carbon emissions by mixing various methods such as △ Development of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) △ Development of water electrolysis separator technology △ Investment in own renewable energy infrastructure △ Carbon recycling by replacing carbon dioxide generated in the blast furnace with methane and reusing it as a reducing agent △ Development of alternative reducing agents such as biomass △ Improving manufacturing efficiency through the establishment of an in-house carbon asset management organization and digitalization.

In response, raw material companies and energy companies introduced Sustainable raw materials providing solutions that minimize carbon emissions during the production process or using 100% renewable energy, while engineering companies introduced high-efficiency manufacturing technology solutions tailored to the needs of steelmakers.

In the last Collaboration session, expert discussions on steel technology and market prospects were held. They shared opinions on the current status of hydrogen-based steelmaking technology, factors for commercialization, and products, markets, prices, and government policies and support after 2050 Carbon Neutrality.

On October 8, the last day of the schedule, POSCO as the organizer of the forum invited the attendees to Pohang Works. The attendees visited the FINEX process which was the basis of POSCO HyREX technology and the POSCO History Museum to meet the path that POSCO has taken and the path to walk for Carbon Reduction

From October 6th to 8th, the big run of the international Hydrogen Iron & Steel Making Forum 2021 (HyIS 2021) finished with a big success. Although it was difficult to gather in one place due to COVID-19, it was a meaningful time for various discussions to be held for the common goal to achieve Carbon Neutrality among steelmakers around the world, and we hope POSCO and other steel experts around the world will continue to pursue a common goal.