Serkan Ürkmez discussed Borçelik's green plans at the 2nd European Green Steel Summit

At the 2nd European Green Steel Summit, Serkan Ürkmez, Robin Pedroza, Eric Vitse and Liu Xiandong participated in a panel discussion moderated by SMS Group Technical Ambassador Tamoghna Mitra on the use of green energy and green hydrogen in Europe's fossil-free iron and steel production. It was expressed that there are various opinions and activities on the transition from gray steel to green steel production. It was emphasized that hydrogen can play an important role in this transformation, but it is still not enough on its own and different strategies and routes should be evaluated and discussions were conducted to ensure the transformation.

During the panel, Serkan Ürkmez, Borçelik Management Systems Director, answered the question of how renewable energy and hydrogen activities are integrated into steel production. Ürkmez explained that they produce 1,5 million tonnes of cold rolled and galvanized steel, and detailed their supply chain. Stating that they focus especially on the automotive and white goods sectors, he said that they pay attention to their decarbonization journey.

Ürkmez stated that more than 80% of their company's emissions come from their raw materials and emphasized that reduced carbon steels should be offered at reasonable prices in the market. The remaining 20% of emissions of their current processes can be reduced to zero by 2050 through energy efficiency and with the technologies such as renewable energy, hydrogen, etc. He noted that the company is investing in solar panels and potentially for wind power plant, that their demand for renewable energy has not yet been met for neutralizing their indirect scope 2 emissions.

Stating that hydrogen is used as a heat transfer gas in rolling and galvanizing furnaces, he explained that they make use of pure hydrogen in their batch annealing furnaces and invested for new hydrogen plant from natural gas for this purpose. He said that they reduced their emissions substantially. He also stated that, nevertheless they are looking for partnerships with alternative green hydrogen producers in Türkiye, but they are facing cost , storage, transportation and safety issues.