China International Water & Electricity to provide green hydrogen solution to Algeria’s 1 million ton Bechar steel complex
(Ningxia, China) On Oct 11th, China International Water & Electricity Co., Ltd signed an agreement with a Chinese consortium CMH to provide green hydrogen supply to Algeria’s Bechar 1 mn ton steel complex which will start construction by the end of 2023 and is expected to commission by 2026. It could become the first zero-emission metallurgy plant in Africa.
Bechar 1 million ton steel complex is the largest ever iron and steel plant for Algeria which will be developed and operated by a joint venture by CMH, a Chinese consortium and FERAAL, National Iron and Steel Company of Algeria. The investment of this complex will exceed $1 billion.
image: Gara Djebilet iron ore in operation
This industrial project has great economic importance for the province of Bechar, the iron ore will be sourced from neighboring province Tindouf’s Gara Djebilet iron mine. Algeria will invest $7 billion to $10 billion to build this iron mine. The project covers an area of over 125 square kilometers and has an estimated mineral reserve of 3.5 billion tons, of which 1.7 billion tons are recoverable. The project has begun trail operation in 2022, with an initial planned annual production of approximately 2-3 million tons.
China International Water & Electricity (or Sinohydro) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Communications Construction Group, which is one of the largest energy project EPC globally. CMH consortium consist of three Chinese enterprises, including MCC International, Sinohydro, and Hunan Shengshi Sunshine Technology.
China has been researching hydrogen metallurgy for many years, several demonstration or pivot projects have been established, see our previous reports:
Hydrogen metallurgy in China - by Jian Wu (China Hydrogen Bulletin)
China's first 1.2 mn ton hydrogen metallurgy plant operating successfully (China Hydrogen Bulletin)
Several Chinese steel giants showed interests to Algeria’s iron ore and steel projects as it has excellent endowments to develop low-carbon or zero-emission metallurgy projects. This project may also be a great opportunity for China’s electrolyser manufacturers.