Tenaris, Edison, and Snam signed a letter of intent to launch a project to decarbonize Tenaris's seamless tube plant in Dalmine, Italy, by introducing green hydrogen into specific production processes.

The companies will be working to identify and implement the most appropriate solutions to produce, distribute and use green hydrogen at the Tenaris plant, contributing their skills to invest in the best technologies currently available. The first phase of the project seeks to generate hydrogen and oxygen through a 20 MW electrolyzer that will be installed at the Dalmine plant, enabling the use of hydrogen in replacing natural gas currently used  in the Electric Arc Furnace. The initiative also envisages the construction of a storage facility to accumulate hydrogen at high pressure, and to deploy oxygen produced locally by electrolysis into the plant network.

The project is the first phase of a broader initiative called “Dalmine Zero Emissions” which was launched by Tenaris, Techint Engineering & Construction and Tenova that aims at shifting from methane to green hydrogen for the fuel feed of the steel production and of the downstream processes. This would be the first application of green hydrogen on an industrial scale in the Italian steel sector.

The first phase of the project includes the conversion of the steel shop. “The objective is to develop an electrolysis plant powered by renewable energy, generating enough hydrogen for operational needs.”, explains Andrea Cignoli, Manager of Milan's Engineering Center

In 2020, Techint E&C carried out the feasibility study and the CAPEX estimate for the project and will participate to the future development stages along with Tenova.

Michele Della Briotta, President of Tenaris Europe and CEO of TenarisDalmine, said: “The 'Dalmine Zero Emissions' project is the latest initiative launched by Tenaris in Italy to improve our environmental footprint. It comes after successive investments in projects to improve air quality and energy efficiency, reducing the consumption of raw materials and increasing the content of recycled material in our products as well as improving and reusing by-products. The 'Dalmine Zero Emissions project' is an opportunity for us to work with qualified partners to initiate the energy transition process for the Dalmine plant, placing ourselves at the forefront of sustainability in the steel sector.”

The implementation of the project will be governed by separate agreements, negotiated between the parties in accordance with the legal and regulatory framework.