Steel decarbonization pathways considering intra-regional coordination of renewable electricity and green hydrogen: A case study of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, China

The low-carbon transition of the steel industry can be accelerated by adopting electric arc furnaces powered by renewable electricity and hydrogen-based direct reduction driven by green hydrogen. However, geographic mismatches between renewable resources and steel production hubs constrain their effective utilization. Intra-regional resource coordination may overcome such constraints and reduce overall decarbonization costs. This study develops an optimization framework covering both regional and plant levels, using China's Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region as a case study to examine the role of regional integration in promoting steel decarbonization. Results indicate that steel plants in different areas of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region follow divergent decarbonization pathways: southern plants predominantly adopt carbon capture and storage technologies as a transitional solution, while eastern plants are more inclined to adopt hydrogen-based reduction directly. Regional integration further reduces the average costs of renewable electricity and green hydrogen by 16.67% and 9.93%, respectively, lowering cumulative discounted total decarbonization costs by CNY 80 billion. It also increases the renewable share of steel production energy consumption by 3% and markedly accelerates the deployment of advanced technologies such as iron ore electrolysis.