Funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will help Australian technology company Element Zero demonstrate its electrochemical ironmaking technology at progressively larger pilot scale in Western Australia.
ARENA has granted Element Zero up to $26 million towards its $53.65 million Green Iron Electroreduction Demonstration Module project through the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund.
Element Zero currently operates a 10kg per day continuous high-purity iron plant using renewable energy at its technology facilities in Perth.
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The ARENA-supported project will initially scale the technology to 1 tonne of high-purity metallic iron per day, with a potential second stage scaling it to 10 tonnes per day, subject to a formal Stage Gate Review and ARENA approval.
Importantly, the project is intended to generate operating data, validate technical performance, and inform the potential design of repeatable modules for future commercial scale high-purity iron plants.
The company’s longer-term strategy is to deploy multiple modules at commercial scale in Western Australia’s Pilbara, close to the source of Australia’s iron ore and abundant renewable energy resources.
Element Zero CEO Michael Masterman said, “Australia has spent decades building a world-leading iron ore industry. The opportunity now is to capture the 5-6 times the export value by converting iron ore to high-purity iron.
“Our goal is to combine Australian iron ore, renewable electricity and Australian-developed technology to produce green iron in Australia, rather than exporting our iron ore and leaving the value-adding to happen overseas.
“We already have our technology operating continuously in Perth. This project is about taking the next major step—scaling first to one tonne per day and then 10 tonnes per day, while establishing the modular plant design that we ultimately intend to deploy at commercial scale in the Pilbara.
“ARENA’s support will enable us to test the technology at a larger scale and generate the evidence needed to assess its potential.”
Element Zero’s electrochemical technology is being developed as an alternative pathway for converting iron ore into high-purity iron without the direct carbon emissions associated with conventional carbon-based ironmaking.
Importantly, the technology is being developed for use with a range of Australian iron ores, including haematite ore, which makes up the bulk of Australia’s export market.
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Masterman said the longer-term opportunity extended well beyond the ARENA-supported project.
“The Pilbara already has the iron ore, the industrial capability, and some of the world’s best renewable energy resources. If we can bring those advantages together, Australia has an extraordinary opportunity to build a globally significant green iron industry.”
