London — A 20 MW electrolyzer is to be installed at Tenaris' Dalmine steel mill in Italy to produce renewable hydrogen, project partners Tenaris, Edison and Snam said in a joint statement Jan. 11.

Introduction of an electrolyzer fed by renewable electricity would see green hydrogen replacing natural gas in the steelmaking process, significantly reducing CO2 emissions related to electric arc furnace steel, the partners said.

"The initiative may also include the construction of a storage site for the accumulation of high-pressure hydrogen and the use of oxygen, locally produced through electrolysis, within the smelting process," they said.

After this initial project the three companies would consider extending the use of hydrogen to other stages further downstream in the production process at Dalmine.

Italy has outlined a Eur10 billion ($12.17 billion) strategy targeting installation of 5 GW of electrolysis by 2030, aiming for a 2% share of sustainable hydrogen in final energy demand by then.

Michele Della Briotta, President of Tenaris Europe said the Dalmine Zero Emissions project placed the company "at the forefront of sustainability in the steel sector."

Nicola Monti, CEO of Edison, said Edison's renewable energy "and the technological solutions available to us can concretely contribute to the development of a new and important national value chain."

Edison has 1.13 GW of hydro capacity and around 1 GW of wind capacity in Italy, plus a small amount of solar capacity.

In November 2020, meanwhile, gas infrastructure operator Snam completed the acquisition of a 33% stake in green hydrogen specialist Industrie De Nora from investment company Blackstone for Eur1.2 billion.

Snam is increasingly looking to adapt its business to embrace hydrogen and has said that 70% of its Italian network is already hydrogen-ready and would have no problem accepting blends of hydrogen.

De Nora's position in hydrogen stems from the manufacture of electrodes for electrochemical industrial applications, components to improve the performance and the economics of hydrogen produced using alkaline water electrolysis.