韩国的浦项制铁集团正计划在澳大利亚投资400亿美元（约2800亿元人民币），用于氢气制取和绿色钢铁，并计划在2040年前制取100万吨氢气。
该承诺是浦项制铁集团首席执行官Jeong-wooChoi（崔正友）和澳大利亚总理AnthonyAlbanese（安东尼·阿尔巴内塞）12月1日在堪培拉议会大厦举行会议之后提出的。大部分的投资（280亿美元）被指定用于可再生能源和水电解，120亿美元被分配给绿色钢铁生产。
首席执行官崔正友表示集团已宣布到2050年实现碳中和，以应对气候变化，并一直在集中精力开发氢气还原炼铁和炼钢，以排放水而不是二氧化碳（CO2）。
他指出：“澳大利亚是在投资方面对我们来说最重要的国家，以确保氢气，这对氢气钢铁制造至关重要。我们计划不仅增加对炼钢原料的投资，而且增加对澳大利亚各个领域的投资，包括可再生能源、氢气和绿色钢铁。”
具体来说，浦项制铁集团正计划在大规模和有竞争力的可再生能源如阳光和风能的基础上制造绿色氢气，并利用这种绿氢来制造热压块铁（HBI）。
浦项制铁集团已在澳大利亚投资超过4万亿韩元，用于开发铁矿石、锂和镍等资源，并称赞澳大利亚是在海外开发绿色氢气的最佳国家，具备土地可用性、丰富的阳光和风力资源以及先进的法律和制度。
SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 1, POSCO Group CEO Jeong-woo Choi met with the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, at the Parliament House in Canberra, the capital of Australia, to discuss the cooperation for future eco-friendly projects between the POSCO Group and the government of Australia.
This meeting took place for CEO Jeong-woo Choi to directly explain the current state of businesses and future investment plans of the POSCO Group in Australia to the prime minister to establish a cooperative relationship. CEO Choi has also previously attended the 43rd Australia-Korea Business Council meeting held in Sydney on October 30 as the chairperson for Korea.
CEO Choi stated, "The POSCO Group has declared carbon neutrality by 2050 in response to climate change and we have been concentrating our efforts in developing hydrogen reduction iron and steel making to emit water instead of carbon dioxide" and emphasized, "We see Australia as the most important country in terms of investment for us to secure hydrogen which is essential for hydrogen steel manufacturing." He also stated, "We plan to increase our investments in not only raw material for steel making but also across various fields in Australia including renewable energy, hydrogen and green steel."
Specifically, the POSCO Group is planning to manufacture green hydrogen based on large-scale and competitive renewable energy sources such as sunlight and wind power and using this green hydrogen to manufacture hot briquetted iron (HBI).
To achieve this vision, the POSCO Group is planning to invest a total of USD 40 billion in Australia with USD 28 billion in hydrogen manufacturing (renewable energy and water electrolysis) and USD 12 billion in green steel with its local partners to manufacture 1 million tons of hydrogen in Australia by 2040.
Prime Minster Albanese stated, "The business and investment plans of the POSCO Group in Australia are consistent with the direction of the policies being promoted by the government of Australia" and added, "We will actively cooperate with POSCO Group's eco-friendly material businesses for the future."
CEO Choi has requested Prime Minister Albanese to visit Korea and POSCO to further accelerate the business cooperation between Korea and Australia, and Prime Minister Albanese responded, "I will visit POSCO during my scheduled visit to Korea next year" and continued, "I would also really like to visit the joint venture between an Australian company and POSCO Holdings, POSCO-Pilbara Lithium Solution."
Meanwhile, the POSCO Group has invested over KRW 4 trillion in Australia for the development of resources such as iron ore, lithium and nickel and praised Australia as an optimum country for the development of green hydrogen overseas due to its land availability, rich sunlight and wind resources along with progressive laws and systems and excellent business environment.
