Kingspan invests in ‘green’ steel producer

Gene Murtagh, CEO of Kingspan

Ellie Donnelly Twitter Email

April 23 2021 08:11 AM

Insulation giant Kingspan is investing in H2 Green Steel, a company developing new “green” production methods for steel manufacturing using hydrogen.

Kingspan is investing in a Series A equity fundraising round due to close later this month. The Cavan-headquartered company expects to be a single-digit minority shareholder in H2 Green Steel (H2GS).

The investment by Kingspan is also part of its intention to enter into a long-term supply agreement with H2GS, whereby H2GS will supply a “substantial” share of Kingspan’s future steel requirements, according to a statement from the company.

H2GS’s production process replaces coke and coal with green hydrogen to achieve an almost a totally CO2-free steel product. The process abates about 95pc of the CO2 emissions associated with traditional blast furnaces steel makers, Kingspan said.

The green hydrogen gas is produced by electrolysis using electricity generated from hydropower and wind power, which is plentiful in the Boden-Luleå region in northern Sweden where H2GS is constructing a green steel production site.

The financing for the first phase of the project amounts to around €2.5bn, the majority of which will be financed through green project financing, and Kingspan will be an early stage equity investor. Production will commence in 2024 at the factory.

Moving to use of only low emissions steel would see Kingspan reduce embodied carbon in its insulated panel products by approximately over 45pc, the company said.

A complete shift to green steel will take time, Kingspan will continue to buy steel from other current supply chain partners.

Gene Murtagh, CEO of Kingspan, said: “We have set ourselves the challenging target of reducing emissions from the primary raw materials we use in manufacturing by 50pc by 2030, and H2 Green Steel offers a compelling route to achieving this goal.”