ZESTY gets $44.9m boost
Calix has secured funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to advance its zero emissions steel technology (ZESTY) green iron demonstration plant.
The demonstration plant will have a targeted capacity to produce 30,000tpa of hydrogen direct reduced iron (H2-DRI) or hot briquetted iron (HBI).
ZESTY uses a combination of electric heating and hydrogen reduction, aiming to provide lowest cost pathways to green iron and steel by:
- Enabling flexible operations compatible with variable renewable energy sources
- Enabling theoretical minimum hydrogen use of 54kg/t of iron
- Removing the need for ore pelletisation
- Enabling the use of fines and lower-grade ores
The plant’s targeted benefits have the potential to substantially increase cost savings for green iron projects with traditional hydrogen direct reduced iron technologies.
ARENA chief executive Darren Miller says Australia has a critical role in reducing emissions across the steel value chain.
“ZESTY is a strong step toward building a low-emissions steel industry at home,” he said.
“ZESTY, in combination with use of renewable electricity from Australia’s world-class solar and wind resources, has the potential to create a new green iron industry targeting both domestic and export markets as the world transitions away from fossil fuels.”
The project will now commence detailed design engineering with a final investment decision (FID) for the plant, the location of which remains commercial in confidence, is targeted for FY26.
Subject to matched funding being secured, procurement and construction is targeted to commence in 2026, followed by a staged commissioning and operations phase that is planned to commence in 2028.
Informed by the demonstration plant’s results, a study for a commercial ZESTY plant will provide a detailed techno-economic assessment of ZESTY at scale. This study is designed to support the final scale up stage of the technology and facilitate commercial deployment into international supply chains.
Calix chief executive and managing director Phil Hodgson says this milestone continues to mark our progress in realising ZESTY’s potential.
“With the iron and steel industry responsible for approximately 7% to 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, we look forward to working with ARENA to advance the project and help address this significant global challenge and opportunity,” he said.
ZESTY could be integrated directly at the iron ore source for the export of green iron, or by a steelmaker to feed a blast furnace, basic oxygen furnace, electric smelter or electric arc furnace, providing flexible near and long-term decarbonisation pathways for industry.
Extensive pilot-scale testing has already delivered excellent metallisation results from more than 130 test runs using nine different Australian ores and covering a range of grades and particle sizes.