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Australia’s Progressive Green Solutions (PGS) has chosen German technology firm Thyssenkrupp Nucera as the preferred supplier of electrolyzers for its 1.4GW green hydrogen project, aimed at producing up to 7 million tonnes of green iron pellets annually in Western Australia’s Mid West region near Geraldton. First exports are targeted for 2029.

Industry Context

The project aligns with broader industry efforts to decarbonise steel production, leveraging locally generated renewable energy to produce hydrogen for direct reduced iron (DRI) and hot briquetted iron (HBI). HBI is a compressed form of DRI suitable for export, which can reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 90% compared with conventional steelmaking. Analysts have noted that producing green sponge iron in renewable-rich regions like Australia also significantly reduces shipping and energy requirements compared with sourcing hydrogen and iron ore separately for local European DRI plants.

Project Scale and Technology

PGS’s facility will initially produce 7 million tonnes of green pellets annually, converting roughly 2.5 million tonnes into HBI for export. Long-term plans envisage scaling to 30 million tonnes of DR-grade green pellets and 10 million tonnes of green HBI per year. The plant will utilise modular 20MW alkaline electrolyzers from Thyssenkrupp Nucera’s scalum® range, forming part of the company’s growing portfolio of more than 3GW in global projects.

James Rhee, Managing Director of PGS, said: “We appreciate the effort and expertise that the Thyssenkrupp Nucera Australia team has provided for our lighthouse green iron project to date. As a partner with proven technology and execution competence, we look forward to progressing the cooperation with Thyssenkrupp Nucera in the next stages of the project.” Dr Johann Rinnhofer, CEO of Thyssenkrupp Nucera Australia, added that the collaboration represents a step towards reducing the carbon footprint of steelmaking globally.

Investment and Market Implications

The project remains in an early planning phase and is subject to a final investment decision. Thyssenkrupp Nucera has indicated that revenue from the venture is not expected to impact its sales before fiscal year 2026/27, which follows the firm’s recent reduction of its 2024/25 hydrogen electrolyzer sales forecast to €450-€510m amid weak order intake.

Steel decarbonisation group SteelWatch highlighted the strategic advantage of producing green sponge iron in countries with abundant renewable energy, estimating that importing end-product DRI requires up to four times less shipping volume than importing separate hydrogen and iron ore for local production. This, coupled with reduced renewable energy infrastructure needs, could make regions like Western Australia increasingly central to global green steel supply chains.