GravitHy Selects Danieli for Green Hydrogen Steel Plant in France
French company GravitHy has awarded Danieli the project for a new Energiron Zero Reformer direct reduction plant in Fos-sur-Mer, France, aimed at producing low-carbon Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) using hydrogen technology.
The new green steel facility will have the capacity to produce 2 million tonnes of HBI per year, providing steelmakers with low-emission iron feedstock for more sustainable steel production. The project is part of GravitHy’s strategy to accelerate the decarbonisation of the steel industry by replacing traditional carbon-intensive production methods with hydrogen-based solutions.
Danieli will supply an Energiron Zero Reformer direct reduction plant designed to operate with hydrogen and an electric process gas heater. The technology, jointly developed by Danieli and Tenova, is expected to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of iron production by enabling the use of low-carbon hydrogen instead of conventional fossil fuels.
The GravitHy facility will use low-carbon hydrogen produced on-site by the company and will manufacture HBI for electric arc furnace steel production. The plant is designed to achieve metallisation levels of up to 96% and a carbon content of approximately 1%, which is required during the steel melting process.
The overall investment for the GravitHy project exceeds €3 billion, with Danieli receiving the Notice to Proceed for the initial basic engineering phase of its supply package.
Danieli’s scope of supply includes the Energiron direct reduction system, electrical process gas heating technology to further reduce emissions, water treatment systems and material handling equipment.
The project represents a major step towards reducing emissions from the steel sector, which remains one of the world’s largest industrial sources of carbon emissions. Hydrogen-based direct reduction technology is increasingly being adopted as a pathway to produce cleaner iron and support the transition towards low-carbon steel manufacturing.
The new plant is expected to begin operations by the end of 2030 and will be located in the industrial port area of Fos-sur-Mer, France. The facility will be built alongside Marcegaglia’s Mistral minimill project, which will produce hot-rolled coils using electric steelmaking technology and is currently under development by Danieli.
The collaboration between GravitHy and Danieli highlights the growing momentum behind hydrogen-powered steel production in Europe as manufacturers seek to meet climate targets while maintaining industrial competitiveness.
