In a major push toward decarbonizing the steel industry, NeoSmelt, a consortium formed by industry giants BlueScope, Rio Tinto, and BHP, has received a A$19.8 million funding boost from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to advance its low-carbon ironmaking pilot project in Western Australia.
The project, still in its feasibility phase, is centered around building Australia’s largest electric smelting furnace (ESF) pilot plant at the Kwinana industrial area. The initiative aims to demonstrate that Pilbara iron ore can be converted into low-carbon iron using the direct reduced iron (DRI)–electric smelting furnace process — a potential game-changer for sustainable steel production.
In a joint statement, the founding partners also announced that Woodside Energy and Mitsui Iron Ore Development (the Australian arm of Japan’s Mitsui & Co., Ltd.) have joined the consortium. All five companies will hold equal equity stakes in the project, underlining the shared commitment to decarbonizing ironmaking at scale.
The funding will support a front-end engineering design (FEED) study, a crucial step toward finalizing the project’s design and commercial viability. If successful, NeoSmelt could offer a low-emissions alternative to traditional steelmaking, a sector responsible for around 7–9% of global CO₂ emissions.
A final investment decision is expected in 2026, pending results from the feasibility study.
VietnamSteel by Hoa Sen Group
