Sector-coupling Green Hydrogen to Electrify Steel Production – A Case Study at Ovako Hofors

With a global energy system in rapid transformation from fossil fuels, Green Hydrogen is one of the few solutions to hard-to-abate emissions within the industry. While most hydrogen projects are in the planning phase, the Ovako hydrogen facility in Hofors, with a scrap-based Electric Arc Furnace process, was inaugurated in September 2023. This project studies wider system benefits of the electrolyser such as power grid support, oxygen byproduct, providing hydrogen to external actors, and district heating. This is analysed both with current capacity and in regards to possible future development. Replacing fossil fuel with hydrogen produced by an atmospheric alkaline electrolyser is an indirect electrification with the potential to decrease Green House Gas emissions. Industry-wide electrification increases the electricity demand, affecting all existing users. Therefore, system benefits and sector couplings such as enabling ancillary services to the grid, producing low-marginal cost hydrogen for hydrogen-powered trucks, and using waste heat for district heating, are important to ascertain system-wide improvements.