Tata Steel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BHP, a leading global resources company, with the intention to jointly study and explore low carbon iron and steelmaking technology.
Under the partnership, Tata Steel and BHP 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 climate change goals, and support India’s ambitions to be carbon neutral by 2070.
The technologies explored in this partnership can potentially reduce the emission intensity of integrated steel mills by up to 30%. More 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 the existing capacity.
Beyond these projects, Tata Steel and BHP 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.
Tata Steel has signed an agreement with Shell India Markets Private Limited to evaluate and co-develop short- and long-term options for improvement in energy efficiency, optimisation of demand around carbon-intensive products and services, and others. Additionally, Tata Steel and the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) have signed an MoU to collaborate on CCUS, opening the doors for joint development of advanced technologies with 38 CSIR labs across the country. Tata Steel also signed an MoU with the Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC) and the Indian Navy to promote a culture of innovation in the country. Multiple start-ups have been onboarded, and 31 fully funded trials were conducted across the steel value chain in collaboration.