CSIRO electrolyser pilot a success at BlueScope Steel

CSIRO has announced the successful trial of its tubular solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) hydrogen production technology at BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks in New South Wales, demonstrating affordable and renewable hydrogen can be generated at scale to help decarbonise heavy industry.

CSIRO’s SOE technology has clocked 1000 hours of successful operation in the trial with BlueScope Steel which commenced in October 2024. Unlike conventional hydrogen electrolysers, which rely heavily on electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, the SOE technology uses both waste heat (for example, steam from the steelworks) and electricity to produce hydrogen with greater efficiency.

Dr Sarb Giddey, Senior Principal Research Scientist and Group Leader in CSIRO, said the trial produced hydrogen with an electrical input of less than 36 kWh per kilogram of hydrogen, by using the steam produced in the plant by the steelmaking processes.

“Since electricity takes up the lion’s share of variable production costs for renewable hydrogen, a substantial reduction in the electricity required (up to 30% saving) for hydrogen production could be a game changer for the nascent hydrogen industry,” he said. “Taking a new technology out of the lab and into the field can highlight unforeseen challenges, so we are delighted to see that our technology is meeting the performance requirements in terms of hydrogen production, electrical efficiency and reliability.”

Chris Page, Head of Future Technologies at BlueScope, sees hydrogen as an important part of BlueScope’s pathway to net zero.

“BlueScope is proud to support pilot projects onsite that align with our goals of low carbon emission steelmaking in the future,” he said. “The CSIRO electrolyser pilot has produced positive outcomes in its short-term operation, and we look forward to seeing it evolve.”

CSIRO spinout Hadean Energy has licensed CSIRO’s SOE technology and is on a mission to accelerate industrial decarbonisation.

Chris Rowland, CEO of Hadean Energy, said the tubular SOE technology has a further advantage of being inherently less expensive to build because of the simplified manufacturing process and more readily available materials.

“The 1000-hour milestone validates the technology in a real-world industrial setting, increasing the technology readiness level to prepare for commercialisation,” Rowland said. “It shows the potential for Hadean Energy’s electrolyser to decarbonise hard-to-abate industries.”

This research is supported by the Science and Industry Endowment Fund.

While CSIRO is trialling the tubular SOE electrolyser in the field with BlueScope, Hadean Energy is testing the long-term durability and performance of the modular design at CSIRO’s Hydrogen Technology Demonstration Facility.

Image caption: Sarb Giddey (CSIRO), Chris Rowland (Hadean Energy), Gurpreet Kaur (CSIRO) and Shannon Ballard (BlueScope) with the SOE electrolyser at BlueScope’s Port Kembla steel plant.