SYRIUS

Facing the urgent challenges of climate change and the necessity for a transition towards more sustainable and efficient energy systems, the industrial sector, with the steel industry at the forefront, is compelled to significantly cut energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The steel sector, accounting for 9% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions and consuming an average of ~5.2 MWh of primary energy per ton of steel produced, is at the heart of this challenge. 

The SYRIUS project aims to integrate a 4.2 MWel Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell (SOEC) for producing 100 kg/h of green hydrogen to feed a reheating furnace in a real manufacturing industry, the steel plant of AST.  

The specific objectives of the SYRIUS project are 

• To manufacture a SOEC of 4.2 MW with heat recovery from industry’s process waste heat to be integrated in an operational steel plant, to allow a full-scale demonstration of the technology. 
• To test the integrated system at TRL7 and certify the renewable character of the produced hydrogen ensuring 5,000 cumulative hours of testing. 
• To demonstrate that the integrated system made by the electrolyzers, renewable sources, storage systems, and the industrial process can be managed efficiently and safely with an advanced EMS (TRL 7) while using only renewable electricity. 
• To demonstrate the SYRIUS circularity and sustainability via a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Social-LCA and through Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA);  
• To ensure that hydrogen will be handled safely in the industrial process, following a “safety by design” approach. 
• To develop a business plan to steer the uptake of the SYRIUS technology. 
• To demonstrate test protocols contributing to the Clean Hydrogen JU’s strategic objectives.