March 26, HBIS and BHP Billiton signed a CCUS(Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage)in Steel Industry Showpiece Project Agreement in Beijing amid to build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind. The two group have very long history of cooperation and share same concepts to the climate changes and same sustainable development strategy. This HBIS & BHP project will develop key CCUS technologies, standardization and applications. This is a new chapter of strategic CCUS in steel industry and new breakthrough in low carbon efforts in Chinese steel industry.  

HBIS Chariman Yu Yong and BHP CEO Mike Henry witnessed the signature of the agreement. HBIS Chief Financial Officer Hu Zhigang, HBIS Vice President Li Yiren, BHP Chief Business Officer Vandita Pant, BHP China President Wang Yuekun attend the ceremony and Li Yiren and Vandita Pant signed the documents.

While Carbon Peaking and Neutralization become a hot topic of global industries, the possible future competition of steel and energy industry will be in hydrogen metallurgy, CCUS and other measures that could be used to lower the carbon emissions, carbon capture and the abilities to avoid the reliance on fossil energy. CCUS is a major technology that we could tackle global climate changes and is the first choice of large fossil energy consumption industries. It is a key technology for big carbon producers like steel and cement industry that have a hard in reaching their low carbon goals. In China, the Blast furnaces carbon emissions have been fixed until the end of their service life and CCUS is the solution that could remove the carbon in large scale assisting the industry to reach the goal of carbon neutralization. Economically feasible procedures are the first steps for allowing CCUS applications.  

Yu Yong said that the MOU today is a milestone of the applications of CCUS in steel industry. As a leader, explorer and practicr of green & low carbon reform, HBIS identifies CCUS a revolution in low carbon development and a key technology in its low carbon road map. The new project will explore its application of CCUS in steel industry and its industrial chain. In future, the partners will explore more opportunities in green & low carbon industry, and contribute to the carbon neutralization, common goal of human beings.

Mike Henry said HBIS was one of leading companies of global steel industry and a major client of BHP. The cooperation between the two sides has set a good example for the steel industry in promoting the wide application of CCUS and significantly reducing the carbon dioxide emission intensity in the steel smelting process. This represents another solid step towards the goals set out in the 2021 Memorandum of Cooperation, and is an important reflection of both sides' willingness to promote the low-carbon development of the steel industry.

The showpiece project will implement the CO₂ inner recycle and cross-industry technologies and solutions. And projects including thousand class steel slag carbonization and applications, BFG and hot air heating carbon capture project. Steel slag and hot air CO₂ will together become energy resources. BFG will be recovered with high efficiency and purity to meet high value industrial and food grade CO₂ applications, including to open up the high value utilization route for the preparation of bacterial protein by CO₂. We could find a scientific, profitable and revolutionary technology road path. We will increase its capacity to million-ton grade scale in 2030.     

Over the years, both sides have maintained good cooperation. In 2021, HBIS and BHP signed a MOU of Strategic Cooperation of Climate Changes, BHP will invest 150million US dollars to develop green house gas reduction technologies with HBIS and explore the merger of steel industry and low carbon technologies along the industrial chain in three years. In the future, the two sides will continue to expand research cooperation areas, build a model of steel and the whole industrial chain integration of carbon reduction, and make greater contribution to China's steel industry to continue to lead the global green and low-carbon development.