Australia's Calix gets ARENA grant for green iron demo plant

Australian technology company Calix Ltd (ASX:CXL) will receive support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to conduct a study for a Hydrogen Direct Reduced Iron (HDRI) production plant using the company’s Zero Emissions Steel Technology (ZESTY), the parties announced on Tuesday.

ARENA has awarded a AUD-947,035 (USD 613,410/EUR 613,840) grant towards the AUD-1.96-million pre-Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) and FEED study for the proposed plant, which would produce 30,000 tonnes of HDRI a year that can be used as a feedstock for steel production through electric arc furnaces potentially powered by renewables.

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Calix’s technology uses green hydrogen in a renewably powered reactor to make green iron. The study will take 11 months.

“This project aims to further develop a homegrown Australian technology that we believe, together with Australia’s leading iron ore and renewable energy resources, can help make Australia a leading exporter of not just iron ore, but green iron and green steel,” commented Calix managing director and chief executive, Phil Hodgson.

Australia is the world’s largest iron ore producer and ARENA’s priority efforts include a focus on reducing emissions from metals production.

The steel industry is estimated to account for 7% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.

(AUD 1 = USD 0.648/EUR 0.648)