Duisburg DRI Plant (tkH2Steel) by ThyssenKrupp Steel: status and timeline

Duisburg DRI Plant (tkH2Steel)

Replace blast furnaces at Germany's largest steelworks with a plant that can switch from gas to hydrogen. It is one of the biggest single cuts in industrial CO2 in Europe.

PilotStage 3 of 5

Being built; starts on natural gas. Hydrogen tender on hold; EU eased the hydrogen funding rule in Aug 2026.

Updated Aug 2026Checked 11 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Plant commissioning with natural gas reducing agent

SMS Group awarded €1.8B contract for plant design and constructionMar 2023Complete.
EU approves €2 billion in co-funding for the projectJul 2023Complete.
Hydrogen supply tender put on hold over high pricesMar 2025Complete.
EU approves funding change so it can start without hydrogenAug 2026Complete.
Plant commissioning with natural gas reducing agentTarget Q4 2026Current milestone.
Transition to hydrogen as primary reducing agentNot yet reached.
Full production at 2.5 million tonnes DRI per yearTarget 2028Not yet reached.

Most important updates

Upcoming

Q4 2026Plant commissioning with natural gas reducing agent (next)
2028Full production at 2.5 million tonnes DRI per year

Current obstacles

Hydrogen supply readinessThyssenkrupp put its hydrogen tender on hold in 2025 because offers cost far more than planned; green hydrogen at scale is still not secured.
Cost competitiveness with conventional steelEven with co-funding, the DRI-EAF route using hydrogen will be more expensive than blast-furnace steel without carbon pricing.

Physics limits

Efficiency of hydrogen reductionHydrogen reduction is thermodynamically efficient but requires heat. Using renewable electricity to both generate hydrogen and power furnaces adds cost.
Scale of green hydrogen marketCurrent global green hydrogen production is tiny (~1000 t/year). Meeting demand from even one 2.5 Mt/yr DRI plant requires major infrastructure investment.

How it works

3 parts

Direct reduction

Natural gas or hydrogen reduces iron ore

Midrex Flex heats ore and exposes it to reducing gases (natural gas initially, hydrogen later). Oxygen is removed, producing solid DRI without melting.

Immediate melting

Hot DRI fed to melting furnaces

Adjacent melting furnaces melt hot DRI without cooling. This saves energy vs. cooling and reheating separately.

Hydrogen transition

From natural gas to green hydrogen

At start, natural gas is reducing agent. From late 2027, green hydrogen replaces it, eliminating process CO2 and achieving near-zero-carbon steel.

Spec sheet

Spec	Duisburg DRI Plant (tkH2Steel)
DRI production capacity	2.5 million tonnes/year^R (reported)
Annual CO2 emission reduction	3.5 million tonnes^R (reported)
SMS Group contract value	€1.8 billion^R (reported)
German federal and state co-funding	€2 billion^R (reported)
Total project investment (estimated)	€3 billion^R (reported)

^R reported by the company · ^E our estimate

Peer comparison

Green steel peers

Spec	Duisburg DRI Plant (tkH2Steel)	Salzgitter AG SALCOS Stage 1
DRI production capacity	2.5 million tonnes/year^R (reported)	2+ million tonnes/year^R (reported)
German federal and state co-funding	€2 billion^R (reported)	~€1 billion^E (estimated)

^R reported by the company · ^E our estimate

Update log

2 updates

Aug 2026

Major: ThyssenKrupp allowed to commission Duisburg DRI plant initially with natural gas; hydrogen transition from 2027PressRegulatory

Mar 2023

Major: SMS Group awarded €1.8 billion contract to build ThyssenKrupp's Duisburg DRI plantPressCommercial

About ThyssenKrupp Steel

The team behind Duisburg DRI Plant (tkH2Steel)

ThyssenKrupp Steel

DRI, hydrogen, Duisburg, direct reduction, 2.5 Mt

Steel division of ThyssenKrupp AG (parent company merged from Thyssen and Krupp in 1999). Building a 2.5 Mt DRI plant in Duisburg using hydrogen-capable direct reduction. Commissioning 2026 with natural gas, transitioning to hydrogen 2027.

ThyssenKrupp Steel is a global producer, part of ThyssenKrupp Group (founded 1999 from Thyssen AG and Krupp merger).
Duisburg DRI plant avoids 3.5 Mt CO2/year when operational; backed by €2B German federal and state co-funding.
SMS Group (€1.8B contract) builds the plant using Midrex Flex; commissioning end-2026 with natural gas, hydrogen from late 2027.

thyssenkrupp-steel.com (opens thyssenkrupp-steel.com)Company profile →

Founded: 199927 yrs
Headquarters: Germany
Status: Public
Valuation: public
Works in: MaterialsGreen steel
Coverage: 1 program · 3 updateslatest 1 Aug 2026checked 10 Oct
Investors: German Federal Government (opens bmbf.de)State of North Rhine-Westphalia (opens land.nrw)
Suppliers: SMS Group (opens sms-group.com)Midrex Technologies (opens midrex.com)

Spec

Duisburg DRI Plant (tkH2Steel)

DRI production capacity

2.5 million tonnes/year^R (reported)

Annual CO2 emission reduction

3.5 million tonnes^R (reported)

SMS Group contract value

€1.8 billion^R (reported)

German federal and state co-funding

€2 billion^R (reported)

Total project investment (estimated)

€3 billion^R (reported)

Spec

Duisburg DRI Plant (tkH2Steel)

Salzgitter AG SALCOS Stage 1

DRI production capacity

2.5 million tonnes/year^R (reported)

2+ million tonnes/year^R (reported)

German federal and state co-funding

€2 billion^R (reported)

~€1 billion^E (estimated)