Hydrogen metallurgy represents the frontier of Europe’s industrial transition, where climate ambition meets metallurgical reality. Producing steel and other metals using hydrogen instead of carbon-based reductants requires a fundamental redesign of processes unchanged for over a century. This is less a materials challenge and more an engineering challenge—one that will define which regions can participate in the green-metal revolution
South-East Europe’s contribution to hydrogen metallurgy depends primarily on engineering capacity, not hydrogen availability. Viewed through this lens, Serbia emerges as the region’s primary enabler, while other SEE countries struggle to move beyond supportive or peripheral roles.
Hydrogen behaves differently from traditional fuels: its combustion, diffusion, material interactions, and process chemistry require new modelling approaches. Hydrogen-based direct reduction changes reduction kinetics and furnace design, while hydrogen-ready electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) demand novel control strategies. Safety risks multiply, and incremental tweaks are insufficient. Deep engineering engagement is essential.
Europe Faces an Engineering Bottleneck
Europe’s traditional steelmaking regions already face engineering shortages as hydrogen projects proliferate. The growing demand for near-source engineering partners capable of managing complexity without integration risk highlights Serbia’s strategic position.
Serbian engineers are increasingly involved in hydrogen metallurgy design: modelling hydrogen burners, simulating furnace heat transfer, integrating hydrogen supply into industrial systems, redesigning automation logic, and managing grid impacts. Often, this work occurs far from the plant, proving that expertise outweighs geography. Serbia provides this expertise at scale.
Other SEE Countries Lag Behind
Other SEE nations face structural constraints:
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Romania has engineering talent but is largely absorbed by infrastructure and construction projects, limiting hydrogen-metallurgy exposure.
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Bulgaria possesses metallurgical experience, but transitioning to hydrogen processes requires retraining and investment.
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Greece remains focused on energy transit rather than metallurgical integration.
Serbia’s advantage is not merely engineer numbers, but their cross-disciplinary configuration. Mechanical, electrical, metallurgical, chemical, and automation engineers operate within a shared ecosystem—precisely the integration hydrogen metallurgy demands. Fragmented engineering environments cannot match this capability.
Grid Engineering: A Critical Complement
Hydrogen-based processes often rely on electrification, demanding massive, flexible power inputs. Integrating these loads without destabilising grids is highly specialised. Serbia’s tradition in power engineering equips it to manage this challenge, further consolidating its regional leadership in hydrogen metallurgy.
Pilot Projects and Knowledge Leadership
Hydrogen metallurgy will advance through pilot plants and demonstration projects before full commercial deployment. Countries with flexible permitting, industrial space, and engineering capacity can host these pilots. Serbia’s regulatory environment and industrial zones make it particularly well-suited. Hosting pilot projects accelerates learning and positions Serbia as a hub of hydrogen-metallurgy knowledge.
Over time, Serbia could expand into modular pre-processing units, hydrogen-ready reheating systems, specialised metallurgical components, and testing facilities. These activities require engineering sophistication rather than massive hydrogen supply, reinforcing Serbia’s strategic advantage.
Without significant investment in engineering ecosystems, other SEE countries remain dependent on external expertise. Serbia, by contrast, is becoming the source of that expertise.
Hydrogen metallurgy does not reward partial participation. Regions must integrate deeply into engineering and execution or risk remaining observers. The future relevance of South-East Europe in this field hinges on which countries recognise this reality—and act on it.
