Ovako Adds 20MW Alkaline Water Electrolyzer for Hydrogen Production

Ovako, a European manufacturer of engineering steel with a North American presence, will receive a 20MW alkaline water electrolyzer by the end of 2022. The electrolyzer will be used at their plant in Hofors, Sweden for hydrogen heating of steel prior to rolling and hot forming.

"In June," says Rickard Qvarfort, president of the business unit at Ovako Hofors, "we announced our collaboration with the Volvo Group, Hitachi Energy, H2 Green Steel and Nel Hydrogen with the purpose to invest in fossil-free hydrogen in Hofors[. . .] We are now very pleased to have reached this important milestone of the project. The electrolyzer technology will enable us to eliminate CO₂ for heating steel before rolling."

Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser AS, a division of Nel ASA, is scheduled to deliver the electrolyzer in 2022 for first hydrogen production in 2023. The electrolyzer will produce oxygen and hydrogen for Ovako's steel-heating processes and will decrease CO₂ emissions by 50%.

"We are very excited to announce the delivery of electrolyzer equipment to Ovako, and this groundbreaking project," Jon André Løkke, CEO at Nel Hydrogen explains. "There is huge potential in reducing CO₂-emissions from steel-heating processes through the use of green hydrogen, there are numerous similar sites with equally large potential for decarbonization across Europe and the rest of the world."

Learn more about Ovako here.