Tag Archives: Vandita Pant

BHP and HBIS Group exploring alternate electrified pathways of steel production

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BHP has signed an agreement with China’s HBIS Group Co Ltd (HBIS), one of the world’s largest steelmakers, to trial direct reduced iron (DRI) production and use of BHP iron ores in blends and progress a separate enhanced lump stage 2 trial aimed at lowering blast furnace (BF) carbon emissions.

To support the development of alternate electrified pathways of steel production for a wider range of iron ores, under this new agreement, the parties aim to trial commercial-scale DRI production using BHP iron ores in blends at HBIS’s newly commissioned DRI plant and then evaluate the performance of the DRI in downstream steelmaking steps. The DRI plant uses hydrogen-rich gas by-products in the steel works to convert ore into a metallic iron product that is further refined for steel.

Additionally, the enhanced lump stage 2 trial will focus on the existing BF steelmaking route, with the aim of reducing carbon emissions by increasing the use of direct charge lump and reducing the need for agglomerated feed which requires fossil fuel energy.

BHP’s latest collaboration agreement with HBIS will tap into the investment of up to $15 million over three years proposed by BHP and HBIS in an earlier Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2021.

BHP’s Chief Executive Officer, Mike Henry, said: “HBIS Group is a key partner to BHP and an industry leader in assessing and demonstrating a range of potential pathways to reduce GHG in steelmaking. Our work with customers like HBIS Group, together with our own actions, aims to accelerate progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions right along the value chain.”

BHP’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, said: “I am delighted to build on our existing partnership with HBIS Group, one of the world’s largest steelmakers and an important customer for BHP’s high quality Pilbara iron ores. DRI is an important element of our pathways to near-zero-emission steel production and in the decarbonisation journey of the steel industry.

“We are working with HBIS Group to demonstrate the use of BHP iron ores in DRI production trials. Together with other collaborations we have underway, including electric smelting furnace (ESF) development, the outcomes are expected to provide pathways to reduce carbon emissions from steel production using BHP’s products.”

This new agreement expands on the work streams laid out in the 2021 MoU between the parties and proceeding announced since; phase 1 research and development work announced in 2022 – in conjunction with HBIS and University of Science and Technology Beijing, a recently completed enhanced lump stage 1 trials at one of HBIS’s plants in Hebei province, and the most recent CCUS pilot trials announced in March this year.

HBIS Chairman, Yu Yong, said: “HBIS and BHP are aligned in their aims to help develop greener, low-carbon solutions that can reduce emissions in steelmaking, leveraging on our long-standing and trusted relationship that we have forged over several years. The agreement signed today is another landmark following our substantive cooperation in areas such as CCUS, and highlights HBIS’s efforts to build a low-carbon raw material supply chain.

“HBIS looks forward to strengthening our comprehensive strategic synergy with BHP in the sustainable development of steel in the years ahead.”

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance secures half of Central Queensland power requirements with renewables

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BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) has entered into a new renewable power purchase agreement (PPA) with Queensland’s publicly-owned energy generator and retailer CleanCo, which, the company says, is expected to provide half the forecasted electricity demand of BMA’s Central Queensland operations over five years from January 2026.

The new PPA will run to the end of 2030 and effectively extend an existing low carbon emission power agreement between BMA and CleanCo currently running to the end of 2025.

This second PPA will enable BMA to continue to source half of its expected electricity needs from low greenhouse gas emission sources such as solar and wind, as well as pumped hydro.

BHP President Australia, Geraldine Slattery, said: “We are increasing renewable electricity at BMA in line with our decarbonisation commitments to 2030 and beyond, improving the long-term sustainability of our business while at the same time supporting Queensland’s renewable electricity infrastructure build, regional communities and local jobs.

“We expect demand for Queensland’s higher-quality metallurgical coal to remain strong for many years to come, as major steelmakers look to reduce their emissions intensity while delivering the steel needed to support global population growth and decarbonisation infrastructure.”

BHP Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, said: “Using more renewable electricity at our operated assets across the globe is key to our operational decarbonisation strategy. We are pleased to continue our strong relationship with CleanCo.

“Through a growing number of agreements to supply our mines in Chile, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia with renewable electricity, we are making good progress on decarbonisation while supporting the development of renewable infrastructure and stimulating regional economies.”

The new PPA will help support four renewable electricity projects across regional Queensland, which combined are expected to generate more than 1,500 local jobs during construction: the Dulacca Wind Farm due for completion in late 2023, the MacIntyre Wind Farm due for completion in 2025, and the Western Downs Green Power Hub and Kaban Wind Farm that currently supply electricity to the grid and are expected to reach full commercial operation later this year.

The PPA is also linked to CleanCo’s new renewable energy storage initiative, which directs excess renewables to the Wivenhoe Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Station to support an increase in around-the-clock renewable supply and cost management.

CleanCo CEO, Tom Metcalfe, said: “At CleanCo we are committed to providing tailored, clean energy solutions to help our customers decarbonise.

“It is our role to develop solutions that meet the unique energy needs of these companies so that they can thrive in a net zero future and I am thrilled BMA has entrusted CleanCo to continue to supply reliable, renewable energy for its operations.”

BHP is on track to achieve its medium-term target to reduce operational greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% by FY2030 (from FY2020 levels). BHP also has a long-term goal to achieve net zero operational greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

BHP and JX Metals partner on GHG emission reduction plan for copper supply chain

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JX Metals Corporation (JX Metals) and BHP have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to pursue the development of a “Green Enabling Partnership” aimed at supporting both parties’ ambitions of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the copper supply chain and making the copper supply chain more sustainable.

Through the Green Enabling Partnership, JX Metals and BHP aim to support the continued development of a responsible copper supply chain through enhancing traceability and material origin verification across industry, from producers to downstream consumers such as copper product manufacturers, as well as the semiconductor, information technology and automobile industries.

In addition, the Green Enabling Partnership proposes to advocate for circular economy and GHG emissions reduction through copper concentrates and sulphuric acid supply between both parties, promote knowledge sharing in areas of estimating and reducing carbon footprint of electrolytic copper, and engaging in research and development to support improved material processing and energy efficient smelting operations.

JX Metals and BHP have a long-standing relationship dating back to 1985 with the commissioning of Escondida, BHP’s largest copper mine. This relationship has been strengthened in recent years through various collaboration opportunities – for example, BHP has supplied copper concentrates extracted from its mines in Chile to JX Metals’ smelters in Japan, and in turn, utilised sulphuric acid produced in JX Metals’ smelting processes for solvent extraction in its mines.

“JX Metals’ partnerships in the downstream copper supply chain are expanding in scope,” JX Metals Director and Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Kazuhiro Hori, said. “Our efforts to produce more sustainable copper are centered on green hybrid smelting at the Saganoseki Smelter and Refinery, and partnerships with upstream sectors are essential to reduce our Scope 3 GHG emissions reported by JX Metals in copper concentrate production and transportation. We will respond to our stakeholders’ needs by enhancing our ESG efforts in upstream sectors through this partnership with BHP, a vital responsibility for JX Metals.”

In 2022, Pan Pacific Copper (a member of JX Metal’s group), partnered with BHP and Norsepower, a global manufacturer of wind propulsion equipment for shipping, in an effort to reduce carbon emissions from the marine transportation of copper concentrates and sulphuric acid.

BHP’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, said: “At BHP, we pride ourselves on identifying and implementing innovative sustainability. We recognise that solutions are not developed in silos, and partnership and collaboration with our customers and partners across the value chain often bring about the best and most sustainable outcomes in pursuit of these goals. We look forward to working with JX Metals on the Green Enabling Partnership that aims to support further GHG emissions reduction in the supply chain for copper, one of the most critical minerals in the journey towards global net zero ambitions.”

President of BHP Americas, Rag Udd, said: “In a world in which the demand for copper is on the rise, improving the sustainability of producing processes is a non-negotiable. The copper of our mines produced in Chile are fundamental for decarbonising the value chain and for providing the resources the world needs to enable the energy transition. BHP has made significant progress in increasing the sustainability and ESG standards of its copper production, and we always aim to deliver high-quality and responsibly produced copper. I’m sure that this partnership will benefit our customers and will allow us to go even further in our effort to decarbonise through innovative production processes.”

BHP and China’s HBIS Group Co Ltd expand partnership to CCUS tech trial

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BHP has signed an agreement for piloting of carbon capture and utilisation technology with China’s HBIS Group Co Ltd (HBIS), one of the world’s largest steelmakers and a major iron ore customer of BHP.

As part of this new project, HBIS and BHP will trial pilot-scale demonstrations of carbon capture and utilisation technologies at HBIS’ steel operations in China. The trial will develop and test technologies that can be integrated into steel production processes to reduce the CO2 emissions. These include Vacuum Pressure Swing Adsorption, VPSA, an alternative technology to capture the CO2, and two utilisation technologies (slag mineralisation and biological conversion to protein) to sequester the CO2.

In addition, BHP will support HBIS in developing and deploying absorptive desulphurisation at HBIS ZXHT Hydrogen Metallurgy Demonstration Project in Xuanhua, Hebei, intended to enable the utilisation of circa-60,000 t/y of captured CO2 from the direct reduced iron (DRI) process in the food or industrial sectors.

BHP’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, said: “Our multi-faceted partnership with HBIS will now include pilot testing of novel carbon capture technology at their operating sites in Hebei, and builds on the separate carbon capture trial with ArcelorMittal, Mitsubishi Heavy Industry and Mitsubishi Development, announced in October 2022. Hebei province accounts for around 20% of China’s reported steel production and represents one of the locations in which we aim to support future carbon capture, utilisation and storage initiatives. With our support, HBIS will also be pilot testing options for the utilisation of captured carbon dioxide for the production of saleable products and sequestration in waste slag.”

This new agreement expands on the work streams envisaged in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by BHP and HBIS in 2021, together with the Phase 1 research and development work announced in 2022 with HBIS and University of Science and Technology Beijing. In separate work under the MoU, BHP has also supported HBIS in Enhanced Lump trials, aimed at developing processes for improving direct feed iron ore lump use to achieve incremental reductions in carbon dioxide emissions intensity of steel production, at one of the steelmaker’s plants in Hebei province.

BHP’s latest collaboration agreement with HBIS will tap into the investment of up to $15 million over three years proposed by BHP and HBIS in the MoU signed in 2021.

HBIS Chairman, Yu Yong, said: “BHP is a globally renowned resource company and a long-term partner with HBIS with shared goals in relation to the development of technologies to abate carbon emissions in the steel-making sector. The signing of these projects is another milestone since the two parties’ ‘Memorandum of Understanding for Strategic Collaboration in Climate Change’ signed in 2021, it starts a new journey in jointly exploring CCUS technology developments in the steel sector.”

Chairman Yu also stated: “HBIS is committed to being a leader, explorer, and practitioner in the industry’s transition to lower carbon emissions. CCUS has been identified as a breakthrough technology for reducing carbon emissions from steel and this has anchored CCUS technology as a key component in HBIS Group’s low-carbon technology roadmap. In the future, HBIS will continue to focus on the goal of jointly addressing climate change, deepening cooperation with industry value chain partners, adhering to the concept of sustainable development, and consistently cultivating and investing in the green and low-carbon field.”

BHP and Hatch commence design study for an electric smelting furnace pilot

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BHP and global engineering, project management and professional services firm, Hatch, have signed an agreement to design an electric smelting furnace pilot (ESF) plant in support of a decision to construct this facility in Australia.

The facility will aim to demonstrate a pathway to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) intensity in steel production using iron ore from BHP’s Pilbara mines for BHP’s steelmaking customer, BHP says.

The small-scale demonstration plant would be used to collaborate with steel producers and technology providers to generate and share learnings with the aim of accelerating scale up of ESF plant designs.

The pilot facility would be intended to test and optimise production of iron from the ESF, a new type of furnace that is being developed by leading steel producers and technology companies targeting low CO2 emission-intensity steel. The ESF is capable of producing steel from iron ore using renewable electricity and hydrogen replacing coking coal, when combined with a direct reduced iron (DRI) step. Estimates show that reductions of more than 80% in CO2 emission intensity are potentially achievable processing Pilbara iron ores through a DRI-ESF pathway, compared with the current industry average for the conventional blast furnace steel route, BHP says.

The ESF allows for greater flexibility in input raw materials, addressing a key barrier to wider adoption of other lower CO2 emissions production routes, such as use of electric arc furnaces which are designed for scrap steel and high grade DRI only. The ESF also has the potential to be integrated into a steel plant’s existing downstream production units.

The pilot facility will enable deeper and more accurate insights into the performance of this technology for converting iron ores into molten iron and steel. Planned test programs will help de-risk further investment in commercial scale projects, thereby complementing development plans of BHP’s steel customers. This scale-up approach has been utilised by other industry demonstrations such as Sweden’s HYBRIT project, BHP added.

BHP and Hatch will assess several locations in Australia for the proposed facility based on supporting infrastructure, technology skills and the availability of local partnerships to build and operate the facility.

BHP’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, said: “We see the ESF process as a critical breakthrough in significantly reducing the carbon emissions intensity of steel production and one that provides an opportunity for iron ore from our Pilbara mines. The steel industry has identified the ESF as a viable option to use a wider range of raw materials and steel companies globally are looking to build commercial-scale ESF plants as part of their CO2 emission reduction roadmaps.”

BHP’s Group Sales and Marketing Officer, Michiel Hovers, said: “Hatch is a key partner in carbon emissions reduction initiatives across the world. We are pleased that we can collaborate with Hatch, alongside BHP’s existing customer and research partnerships, to further progress the development of pathways towards a lower GHG emission footprint for the steelmaking industry. The ESF technology is very exciting and potentially very relevant for reducing the carbon emissions intensity of steel production and provides new and exciting opportunities for our Pilbara iron ore and our customers.

“BHP and Hatch have collaborated on steel technology and design for reducing GHG emissions from over several years, including the ESF and in collaboration with steel producers, and this project is a natural progression in our partnership.”

Hatch’s Managing Director for Bulk Metals, Joe Petrolito, said: “Hatch is excited to collaborate with BHP on this forward-looking initiative and is honored to contribute to the efforts of an industry leader who is dedicated to driving tangible progress. This project marks a significant milestone in the pursuit of decarbonisation within a challenging sector that underpins global infrastructure and progress.”

BHP partners with Neoen on Olympic Dam renewable power pact

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BHP says it has signed a renewable Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Neoen, which is expected to meet half of Olympic Dam’s electricity needs from its 2026 financial year.

The agreement, which is based on current forecast demand, will allow Olympic Dam to record a net zero emission position for the contracted volume of supply, according to BHP.

The PPA is expected to supply 70 MW of electricity to Olympic Dam and will support Neoen to construct the 203 MW Goyder South Stage 1b Wind Farm, assuming all relevant consents are obtained, BHP said. This wind farm is to form part of the larger Goyder Renewables Zone in South Australia, and will introduce new renewable generation into the South Australian electricity grid.

In addition, Neoen will construct a large-scale battery energy storage system in Blyth, South Australia, to support the PPA, which will also assist in improving the stability of the South Australian electricity grid.

Goyder South Stage 1, consisting of Goyder South 1a and 1b, is the first stage of Neoen’s flagship project known as Goyder Renewables Zone – a hybrid wind, solar and storage project located in mid-north South Australia. Goyder South has development approval for a total of 1,200 MW of wind generation, 600 MW of solar generation and 900 MW of battery storage capacity – making it South Australia’s largest renewable project.

BHP Olympic Dam Asset President, Jennifer Purdie, said: “The world needs South Australia’s high-quality copper to build renewable technologies and infrastructure, and BHP is focused on producing that copper more sustainably.”

“This agreement will support BHP on its decarbonisation journey, and provide new firmed renewable energy and increased stability to the South Australian grid.”

This latest agreement follows commitments BHP has made in recent years, which have seen renewable electricity contribute to powering BHP facilities in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and Chile.

This PPA continues the actions BHP is taking to contribute to its medium-term target to reduce operational greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1 and 2 from its operated assets) by at least 30% from adjusted 2020 financial year levels by its 2030 financial year.

BHP’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, said: “BHP is consciously working towards our target of at least a 30% reduction in our operational emissions by FY2030. Renewable energy partnerships, such as this agreement with Neoen, are important steps towards that outcome, and our longer-term 2050 net zero goal.”

Louis de Sambucy, Neoen Australia’s Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to provide BHP with this highly innovative solution. We are convinced that our ability to combine our assets and our energy management capabilities to create bespoke commercial offers will be a key element of success for our future developments.”

Xavier Barbaro, Neoen’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, added: “We thank BHP for their vote of confidence. Thanks to its storage assets and deep expertise, Neoen is now able to offer 24/7 energy to its customers. This first baseload PPA is a significant step forward for Neoen and will serve as a template for future contracts, opening up new market opportunities in Australia and in the rest of the world.”

Neoen, BHP says, is one of the world’s leading independent producers of exclusively renewable energy, having close to 5.6 GW of solar, wind and storage capacity in operation or under construction across numerous countries.

BHP, Pan Pacific Copper and Norespower collaborate on ‘green’ shipping project

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BHP has partnered with Pan Pacific Copper (PPC) – a member of JX Nippon Mining & Metals group – and Norsepower, a leading global provider of auxiliary wind propulsion systems, to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from maritime transportation between BHP’s mines in Chile and PPC’s smelters in Japan.

The parties are conducting a technical assessment and plan a retrofit installation of wind-assisted propulsion system onboard the M/V Koryu, a combination carrier operated by Nippon Marine – a member of SENKO group (shares held by SENKO 60%, JX Nippon Mining & Metals 40%).

BHP and PPC have multi-year agreements for delivery of copper concentrates from Chile to Japan as well as sulphuric acid from Japan to Chile, making the cargo capacity utilisation of M/V Koryu (a 53,762 deadweight tonne combination carrier) one of the highest in the industry.

Norsepower’s Rotor Sails installation – a “push-button wind propulsion” system estimated to be around ten times more efficient than a conventional sail that requires no reefing or crew attention when in operation – is scheduled for completion by the September quarter of 2023, which is expected to make M/V Koryu the cleanest vessel in its category when measured for greenhouse gas emissions intensity, BHP says.

Norsepower’s Rotor Sails are modernised versions of Flettner rotors, and the technology is based on the Magnus effect that harnesses wind to maximise ship fuel efficiency. When wind conditions are favourable, Rotor Sails allow the main engines to be throttled back, saving fuel and reducing emissions, while also reducing power needed to maintain speed and voyage time, according to BHP.

BHP Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, said: “Identifying and implementing innovative and sustainable solutions through our strong commodity and supply chain partnerships remain essential in supporting BHP’s decarbonisation ambitions. We look forward to working with PPC on the wind-assisted propulsion system to enable further GHG emissions reduction in our supply chain and add to the already strong partnership between BHP and PPC.”

JX Nippon Mining & Metals Deputy Chief Executive Officer/PPC President, Kazuhiro Hori, said: “PPC and BHP have been sharing the mission to accelerate the activities for decarbonisation in line with our respective climate targets and goals. The Koryu project is a good example of our collaboration and valuable step that proves eagerness by both companies to establish ecosystem partnerships to take on the climate challenge. We are looking forward to further developing the partnership with BHP in various areas.”

Norsepower CSO, Jukka Kuuskoski, said: “Our vision is to set the standard in bringing sailing back to shipping, and empower the maritime industry towards reaching the goal of zero carbon emissions. As fuel prices increase and a carbon levy is initiated, investing in technologies which have proven emissions reductions and fuel savings is essential for long-term commercial success. Working with BHP, PPC and Nippon Marine demonstrates the increased commitment to greener operations, particularly within the bulk carrier market. We look forward to completing the installation and seeing the results.”

This latest partnership with PPC and Norsepower follows BHP’s collaboration agreements in the maritime decarbonisation segment that includes the first marine biofuel trial involving an ocean-going vessel bunkered in Singapore, taking delivery of the first of five LNG-fuelled Newcastlemax bulk carriers and joining a consortium to assess the development of an iron ore Green Corridor between Australia and East Asia. BHP is also a founding member of the Global Maritime Decarbonisation Centre in Singapore.

BHP and Tata Steel to partner on low carbon iron and steelmaking tech

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BHP has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India’s Tata Steel, one of the world’s largest steelmakers, with the intention to jointly study and explore low carbon iron and steelmaking technology.

Under the partnership, BHP and Tata Steel 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 respective climate change goals, and support India’s ambitions to be carbon neutral, BHP said.

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

Beyond these projects, BHP and Tata Steel have committed to a robust ongoing knowledge exchange that will see both parties explore further collaborations, ecosystems and business opportunities in the steel value chain, and the research and innovation sectors in both India and Australia.

BHP’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, said: “The partnership with Tata Steel highlights the importance of collaborations in being able to successfully identify and implement emission reduction technologies in steelmaking, including by developing abatements that can apply 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.

“India has invested heavily in the blast furnace route for steel production, and crude steel output was 118 Mt last year,” she said. “It is, therefore, critical to innovate and demonstrate pathways to reduce emissions from the blast furnace, while alternative steel pathways emerge and low carbon energy systems scale-up.

“A greener steel industry will be integral for India’s growth and decarbonisation journey, and we intend to work hard with Tata Steel to enable this development and hopefully set a benchmark for others in the industry to emulate and learn from. Finding pathways to net zero for steelmaking is challenging and complex but we believe that by working with industry leaders like Tata Steel, together, we will find solutions more quickly to help reduce carbon emissions in steel production.”

Speaking on the partnership, Tata Steel’s Vice President, Group Strategic Procurement, Rajiv Mukerji, 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 focussed on the development of deep decarbonisation technologies such as CCU, hydrogen-based steelmaking, use of biomass and other alternate ironmaking routes. 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.”

Tata Steel and BHP have been heavily involved in establishing partnerships with like-minded industry leaders in reducing emissions in steelmaking. BHP has, in recent years, partnered with global majors POSCO, China Baowu, JFE Steel and HBIS Group to explore greenhouse gas emissions reduction from steelmaking. The combined output of the five steel companies across Asia – in China, India, Japan and South Korea – equates to around 13% of reported global steel production, BHP says.

BHP achieves shipping first as it extends funding for steelmaking decarbonisation

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BHP has welcomed the arrival of MV Mt. Tourmaline – the world’s first LNG-fuelled Newcastlemax bulk carrier – that will transport iron ore between Western Australia and Asia from 2022.

The mining company has chartered five LNG-fuelled Newcastlemax bulk carriers from Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) for five years and awarded the LNG fuel contract to Shell.

On her maiden voyage, the vessel arrived at Jurong Port in Singapore for her first LNG bunkering operation (the process of fuelling ships with LNG) which will take place through the first LNG bunker vessel in Singapore, the FueLNG Bellina. FueLNG, a joint venture between Shell Eastern Petroleum and Keppel Offshore & Marine, operates the bunker vessel.

After LNG bunkering, the 209,000-deadweight tonne vessel will leave for Port Hedland in Western Australia for iron ore loading operations.

BHP Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, said: “BHP works with our suppliers to embed innovative and sustainable solutions in our supply chain. This vessel delivers significant improvements to energy efficiency and emissions intensity, as well as reduced overall GHG emissions in our value chain. These achievements demonstrate BHP, EPS and Shell’s shared commitment to social value through innovative emissions reduction initiatives.

“These LNG-fuelled vessels are expected to reduce GHG emissions intensity by more than 30% on a per voyage basis compared to a conventional fuelled voyage and will contribute towards our 2030 goal to support 40% emissions intensity reduction of BHP-chartered shipping of our products.”

EPS CEO, Cyril Ducau, said: “Today’s historic LNG bunkering is further evidence that the industry’s energy transition is in full swing. These dual-fuel LNG Newcastlemax vessels are a world’s first, but more importantly, they represent a culture shift in shipping and mining.”

In a separate announcement, BHP confirmed it would extend its partnership with the Centre for Ironmaking Materials Research (CIMR) at the University of Newcastle with a further A$10 million ($7 million) in funding to support ongoing research into decarbonising steelmaking.

The expanded research program will focus on low carbon iron and steelmaking using BHP’s iron ore and metallurgical coal, including conventional blast furnace ironmaking with the addition of hydrogen, and emerging alternative low carbon ironmaking technologies.

The collaboration, with funding from BHP’s $400 million Climate Investment Program, will last five years and help train the next generation of PhD researchers and engineers.

Dr Rod Dukino, BHP VP Sales & Marketing Iron Ore, said: “Greenhouse gas emissions from steelmaking represent around 7-10% of global total estimated emissions and the industry remains one of the most difficult sectors in the world to abate. Research and innovation have a critical role to play in accelerating the industry’s transition to a low carbon future.

“The expanded research program with the University of Newcastle complements BHP’s existing partnerships with our key steelmaking customers in China, Japan and South Korea. We are pursuing the long-term goal of net zero Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 20501. Recognising the particular challenge of a net zero pathway for this hard-to-abate sector, we are continuing to partner with customers and others in the steel value chain to seek to accelerate the transition to carbon neutral steelmaking.”

BHP and POSCO to collaborate on low-carbon steelmaking technologies

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BHP and South Korea’s POSCO have announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly explore greenhouse gas emissions reduction technologies in integrated steelmaking.

As part of the MoU, the parties intend to undertake pilot and plant trials to lower carbon in the steelmaking process, including optimising coke quality and assessing carbon capture storage and utilisation (CCUS) options to lower carbon intensity in the blast furnace.

POSCO and BHP also intend to share research on hydrogen-based direct reduction technology, the use of biomass in steelmaking, as well as the potential to leverage BHP’s carbon offsetting capabilities in the development of carbon neutral steel products.

BHP intends to invest up to $10 million over the next five years under the MoU, with the opportunity to increase investment in technologies under the trial. BHP’s investment will be drawn from its $400 million Climate Investment Program, announced in 2019 to support projects, partnerships, research and development to help reduce Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

BHP and POSCO also intend to collaborate on the reporting of carbon emissions through the steel value chain to further progress consistent, transparent and robust global standards.

BHP Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, said: “The pathway to net zero for steelmaking is not yet clear but we believe that, by working with industry leaders like POSCO, together we will find solutions more quickly to help reduce carbon emissions in steelmaking and along the value chain. BHP recently announced a goal to pursue net zero Scope 3 emissions by 2050 and we are committed to working with industry leaders in steelmaking to address this hard-to-abate sector.

“Steel is a critical product for the world to grow and decarbonise, and we must work hard together to enable greener steel, reducing carbon intensity in the blast furnace and testing new technologies for steel production.”

POSCO’s Head of Steel Business Unit, Hag-Dong Kim, said: “Though achieving carbon neutrality is a difficult path ahead, with POSCO working together with BHP’s outstanding mining expertise and the will to achieve a low-carbon future, I have every reason to believe that we can create a significant turning point in carbon emission reduction across our value chain.”

The MoU with POSCO follows BHP’s earlier partnerships established with major steelmakers China Baowu, JFE Steel and HBIS Group to explore emissions reduction from steelmaking. The combined output of the four steel companies equates to around 12% of reported global steel production.