© Energie Steiermark

Energie Steiermark, the Austrian state-owned energy group, has taken a final investment decision on a €25mn ($29mn) green hydrogen facility in Bergla, western Styria, with output contracted to tungsten processor Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten.

A test case for industrial decarbonization

The project is one of a small but growing number of green hydrogen schemes targeting heavy industry’s reliance on fossil-derived hydrogen, particularly in metallurgy. Direct reduced iron production remains the most advanced example of this substitution pathway, but backers of the Bergla plant are betting that smaller, dedicated offtake arrangements — pairing a single industrial user with a nearby production site — offer a more immediate route to scale.

Project details and timeline

The H2 Hub Bergla facility will have 5MW of capacity and a planned annual output of 750 tonnes of green hydrogen. Construction is due to start this winter, with commissioning targeted for late 2027. Power will be drawn largely from Energie Steiermark’s wind portfolio — cited as 105MW of newly commissioned capacity in the Deutschlandsberg district — and hydrogen will reach the adjacent industrial area via a pipeline of roughly 1km.

Offtake and financing structure

Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten will use the hydrogen as a reducing agent in converting tungsten oxides into tungsten powder, replacing fossil-derived hydrogen in that step of its metallurgical process. The Austrian Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy and Tourism is providing subsidies of up to €28.5mn ($33mn) over ten years, an amount that exceeds the plant’s stated construction cost and underscores the degree of public support such early-stage projects still require to reach a positive investment decision.

Policy framing

Austria’s energy minister, Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, said the decision to back H2 Hub Bergla sent a clear signal regarding industrial and climate policy: Austria should become a leading location for the production and application of green hydrogen. Energie Steiermark board members Martin Graf and Werner Ressi said the companies intend to use the experience gained from the project as a basis for further partnerships in the field of hydrogen.

Outlook and what comes next

Energie Steiermark has flagged plans to expand the Bergla site and eventually connect it to Europe’s planned hydrogen pipeline network, though no timeline or capital figure has been given for either step. The arrangement illustrates the economics still facing green hydrogen in industrial applications: production costs and electrolyser availability remain constraints, and projects of this size depend heavily on long-term subsidy commitments and a single committed offtaker rather than open market demand. Whether the model proves replicable for other metallurgical processors will depend on how electrolyzer costs and renewable power supply evolve over the plant’s construction period.