21/06/2021
“A plant such as the Taranto one is just the Italian industrial entity that can contribute at best to the development of the hydrogen technology, as it needs huge quantities of fuel and can allow an acceleration of the growth of this market, by playing a fundamental role in the long journey we are facing ahead”. Dina Lanzi, Head of Technical Business Unit Hydrogen at Snam, explains her view on the relationship between the hydrogen and the steel sectors, with a special attention to the decarbonization goals and to developments that can make more competitive a green gas production.
In an interview, Dina pointed out three primary objectives of the partnership: “Decarbonization of steel production processes, initially with the use of natural gas and then the progressive introduction of growing quantities of renewable gases such as bio methane and hydrogen. To this first phase is associated a focus of hydrogen as fuel, that drives to the envisagement of a distribution system instrumental to the supply to the production plants”.
The third goal of the is the cooperation in the field of Research & Development: “Acciaierie d’Italia and Snam will share the competences of each company in the respective sector in order to benefit reciprocally from the synergies of two of the major Italian companies”.
Snam will make disposable to the steel sector “the experience gained over more than 70 years in the field of gases logistics: transportation, storage and distribution”, Dina Lanzi tells. “It is an experience that is continuing to enrich with new experiments on the renewable gases, also those finalized to decarbonization processes, and concerning all the high temperature sectors that require in any case the substitution of the fossil fuel with other types”.
Within this process, Acciaierie d’Italia will contribute to the research on materials capable of best supporting the development of a hydrogen-based value chain, aiming at obtaining a portfolio of certified steel products for this kind of fuel.
It is a journey that Snam began some years on: “we started with experiments done over a network operating segment in 2019, distributing a mix of natural gas with a 10% hydrogen to two industrial clients, that a few weeks ago was upped to 30%. It was a confirmation that” points out Dina Lanzi “plants were ready for these technologies”.
The use of hydrogen offers several advantages for the possibility of decoupling production from usage, storing energy during over production phases and distributing it when needed. Additionally, “green hydrogen, created with electro-chemical processes, can be produced with zero emissions over the entire value chain”. A quality that makes hydrogen, just as steel, a central element for the development of a circular economy.
The market for hydrogen is currently limited by costs of production: “Companies will play a central role in the development of hydrogen, by cooperating for making production more effective and automatized, and to increase demand. In this trend, the cooperation with plant like Taranto is strategic”.
Furthermore, the deal was done in a crucial phase for the Italian economy, with the National Plan fo Recovery and Resilience (PNRR) will have a central role. The plan, points out Dina Lanzi, is starting “at the right moment for this specific sector: technology is there, it’s ready, but needs to be developed on a large scale to become more competitive. The PNRR can speed up the process in a substantial manner, by contributing to demonstrate the effectiveness of these technologies and abate the gap with traditional fuels”.
Next steps? “On one side, we’ll continue to operate in the field of research and development, while on the other one we’ll transform the pilot projects intro continuative usages, also thanks to the partnerships with important players of the Italian industry, such as Acciaierie d’Italia”.
