Tata Steel Signs MoU with BHP to Explore Low Carbon Iron

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Source: Tata Steel

“We believe strategic collaborations are vital in paving the way for innovations to accelerate the deployment of breakthrough technologies at scale and therefore this partnership with BHP is an important step for us.” - Rajiv Mukerji, Vice President, Group Strategic Procurement, Tata Steel

July 2022 : Tata Steel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BHP, a leading global resources company, with the intention to jointly study and explore low carbon iron and steelmaking technology.

Under the partnership, Tata Steel and BHP intend to collaborate on ways to reduce the emission intensity of the blast furnace steel route, via two priority areas – the use of biomass as a source of energy and the application of carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) in steel production. The partnership aims to help both companies progress toward their climate change goals, and support India’s ambitions to be carbon neutral by 2070.

The technologies explored in this partnership can potentially reduce the emission intensity of integrated steel mills by up to 30 per cent. More importantly, these projects demonstrate how abatements applied to the blast furnace iron-making process, which contributes to more than 60 per cent of India’s steel production, can materially reduce the carbon intensity of the existing capacity.

On the partnership, Rajiv Mukerji, Vice President, Group Strategic Procurement, Tata Steel, said: “The steel sector will play a critical role in achieving India’s net-zero commitment. Tata Steel is already working on several pilot projects focusing on the development of deep decarbonisation technologies such as CCU, hydrogen-based steelmaking, use of biomass and other alternate ironmaking routes.”

He further added, “We believe strategic collaborations are vital in paving the way for innovations to accelerate the deployment of breakthrough technologies at scale and therefore this partnership with BHP is an important step for us.”

Vandita Pant, Chief Commercial Officer, BHP, said, “ The partnership with Tata Steel highlights the importance of collaborations in being able to successfully identify and implement emission reduction technologies in steelmaking, notably by using abatements that can be applied to the existing blast furnace process to incrementally reduce its carbon emissions intensity.”

She also highlighted how BHP can contribute to Tata Steel’s, and the broader steel industry’s role in helping to achieve India’s ambitions to be carbon neutral, particularly as India is expected to see robust steel demand growth over the next three decades, underpinned by a growing population and rising urbanisation.

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