South Korea hydrogen DRI plant

This article is part of the Global Iron and Steel Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Download full dataset

Report an error

Sub-articles:

GEM Wiki Main Page All steel plants Steel decarbonization research List of steel producers World Steel Association Steelmaking technology Green steel projects

South Korea hydrogen DRI plant is a steel plant in unknown, North Gyeongsang, South Korea that operates direct reduced iron (DRI) technology.

Location

The map below shows the approximate location of the plant in unknown, North Gyeongsang, South Korea:

Loading map...

• Location: unknown, Republic of Korea
• Coordinates (WGS 84): 36.647511, 128.131064 (approximate)

Background

In February 2023, South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Motie) announced the country's Steel Industry Development Strategy for Transition to Low-Carbon Steel Production, which involves plans to decarbonise South Korean steel sector. This involves setting up of a hydrogen direct reduction technology-based demonstration plant of capacity 1 mtpa by 2030. A 1mn t/yr demonstration project will be done for hydrogen reduced steel before the commercialisation of 3mn t/yr reactors. There will be a 10 kg/h demonstration reactor for naphtha electrolysis before the commercialisation of a 240 kg/h reactor. As of January 2025, there has been no updates on the plant.

Ownership Tree

This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Plant Details

Table 1: General Plant Details

Announced date	Start date	Power source	Iron ore source
2023-02	2030	unknown	unknown

Table 2: Ownership and Parent Company Information

Parent company	Parent company PermID	Parent GEM entity ID	Owner	Owner company PermID	Owner GEM entity ID
unknown [100.0%]	not applicable [100.0%]	E100000132388 [100.0%]	unknown [100%]	not applicable	E100000132388 [100%]

Table 3: Process and Products

Steel product category	Steel products	Steel sector end users	ISO 14001	ISO 50001	Responsible steel	Main production equipment
crude	HBI	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	DRI

Table 4: Plant-level Crude Iron Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

¹Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.

Capacity operating status1	Sponge iron/DRI capacity	Nominal iron capacity (total)
announced	4000	4000

Table 5: Upstream Products Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

Sinter	Pellets
NF	NF

Unit Details

Table 6: Direct Reduced Iron Furnace Details

Unit name	Status	Announced date	Start date	Furnace type	Current capacity (ttpa)
unknown DRI (1)	announced	2023-02	2030	not found	3000
unknown DRI (2)	announced	–	2030	not found	1000

Table 7: Direct Reduced Iron Furnace Reductant Details

Unit name	Hydrogen reductant status
unknown DRI (1)	capable
unknown DRI (2)	capable

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of steel plants, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Iron and Steel Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.