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GravitHy, the future market leader in low-CO2 iron welcomes José Noldin as CEO following the company’s launch to market earlier this year by EIT InnoEnergy, Engie New Ventures, FORVIA, GROUPE IDEC, Plug, and Primetals Technologies.

GravitHy, an imminent market leader in sustainable iron and steel, today announces the appointment of José Noldin as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He will lead the company in all its dimensions including engineering, construction, industrial commissioning, mobilisation of the necessary investments, and business development. As a primary milestone, he will oversee the company’s first planned plant in the area of Fos-sur-Mer, Southern France, which is due to require €2.2 billion of investments, create over 3,000 direct and indirect jobs for the region when fully operational.

José Noldin, who in his new role will be based in France, brings first class international experience. For more than 20 years, José Noldin has been leading industrial projects with high innovation and decarbonisation challenges. After starting his career at Tecnored, a company developing a revolutionary new ironmaking technology owned by iron ore giant Vale, he then spent a decade in Belgium in leadership positions at Lhoist, a major player in the lime, dolomite and minerals industry. More recently, José Noldin was the Head of Technology Strategy of one of the largest steel production companies in Latin America, Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, in Brazil, where he was in charge of decarbonation issues. Also holding a PHD in metallurgy, he brings expertise and experience to GravitHy’s ambitions to provide sustainable iron to support the growing demand for decarbonized steel.

In support of Europe’s “Fit for 55” package, which is aimed at hard-to-abate industries, GravitHy will contribute to decarbonising the steel industry by producing and using low-carbon hydrogen to produce decarbonised Direct Reduced Iron (DRI). The DRI will be used either on site as a raw material for green steelmaking or marketed worldwide as Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI).

Karine Vernier, GravitHy’s consortium spokesperson and CEO of EIT InnoEnergy France, comments: “The transformation of energy-intensive industries requires the industrial deployment of pioneering innovations coupled with strong leadership. With José Noldin, we have both, and I am very pleased that he is taking the helm.”

Speaking of his role, José Noldin said: “I’m delighted to be joining GravitHy as CEO. Following a career dedicated to the sector and driven by a commitment to innovation and decarbonisation I am fully committed to mobilise all my experience and expertise for this ambitious industrial project. I am privileged to lead such a significant development in the industry.

The roadmap for the mining and metallurgy sector proposed by the French government sets the ambition of reducing CO2 emissions by 35% by 2030 from the integrated steel industry compared to 2015 emissions. Achieving this goal requires the rapid scaling up of innovative, lower-emission solutions. GravitHy will play a central role in achieving these goals.”

GravitHy, which was founded by a consortium of world-class cross-sector partners and launched earlier this year in June, aims for its first plant in France to be operational by 2027, subject to the required regulatory approvals, with construction commencing in 2024. It has an ambition to produce an annual throughput of 2 million tons of DRI.