BMW to source hydrogen made steel by H2 Green Steel

The BMW Group has secured a deal with the Swedish startup H2 Green Steel for sourcing green steel from 2025 onward.

BMW and H2 Green Steel have also agreed to create a closed-loop material cycle, where H2 Green Steel will reclaim sheet metal remnants, i.e. virgin steel scrap, produced at BMW press plants, for recycling. Secondary steelmaking, which uses steel scrap also requires less energy compared to the blast furnace route using iron ore.

The BMW Group is already using a substantial amount of secondary steel in its vehicles and will continue to increase this percentage in the future. BMW Group press plants in Europe use over half a million tonnes of steel annually.

From 2025 onwards, the BMW Group will be realigning its product range based on three key aspects: a completely redefined IT and software architecture, a new generation of high-performance electric drive trains and batteries and a radically new level of sustainability across the entire vehicle lifecycle.

BMW will also source battery cells from a Swedish company Northvolt by 2024. Northvolt gigafactory is currently under construction in Skellefteå in northern Sweden and will use green power to produce the battery cells.

As part of its involvement with the not-for-profit organisation ResponsibleSteel (the steel industry’s first global multi-stakeholder standard and certification initiative), BMW participates in establishing environmental and social standards throughout the entire steel value chain.

Dr Andreas Wendt, a member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, said, “Our goal is to reduce CO2 emissions in our steel supply chain by about two million tonnes by 2030. Sourcing steel produced using hydrogen and green power can make a vital contribution to this.”