- Groundbreaking ceremony marks the start of construction for industrial-scale demonstration plant targeting hot metal production with potential net-zero CO2 emissions
- Plant will produce hot briquetted iron, hot metal, and pig iron using Hydrogen-based Fine-Ore Reduction (HYFOR®) and Smelter solutions from Primetals Technologies
- Startup scheduled for the end of 2027
Primetals Technologies, together with its project partners Rio Tinto, a global mining and metals company and one of the world’s leading producers of iron ore, and globally leading steel and technology group voestalpine has recently started construction work on an industrial-scale demonstration plant at the voestalpine site in Linz, Austria. On September 25, 2025, this milestone was commemorated with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by politicians and industry leaders.
HYFOR is the world’s first direct reduction technology for iron ore fines that eliminates the need for agglomeration of the iron ore fines. It features lower reduction gas temperatures, in-situ recycling of captured dust particles, and high metallization of the direct-reduced iron (DRI) and HBI. Primetals Technologies began developing HYFOR a decade ago, and since 2021, a pilot plant owned and operated by Primetals Technologies at the voestalpine premises in Donawitz, Austria, has run more than 50 successful campaigns with basically all major iron ore sources. The Smelter is a furnace powered by renewable energy that melts and completes the reduction of DRI to produce hot metal or pig iron and a value-added slag suitable as cement clinker substitute.
By using certified green hydrogen from the existing H2Future electrolysis plant at voestalpine’s site, these plants will produce hot metal similar to that from a blast furnace, but with the potential for net-zero CO2 emissions. HYFOR and Smelter are expected to be commercially available from 2028 and will have the capacity to meet the needs of the steel sector.
Rio Tinto will supply 70 percent of the iron ore for the Hy4Smelt industrial-scale demonstration plant, as well as provide technical support to the project. Rio Tinto will also support the development and future commercialization of the HYFOR and Smelter technologies.
EU and Austrian Government Funding
Funding for the investment and operation of this prototype plant has been provided by the Austrian federal government through its “Transformation of Industry” program managed by Kommunalkredit Public Consulting (KPC) and the “Twin Transition” initiative managed by Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws). In addition, the European Union supports the venture through the European Union Research Fund for Coal and Steel within the Clean Steel Partnership (CSP) and the European Union Clean Hydrogen Partnership within the Hydrogen Valleys, i.e. areas where hydrogen serves more than one end sector or application in the mobility, industry, and energy sectors.
Photo of Primetals Technologies
Press release https://www.primetals.com/en/
