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This is a concrete first step in the project called Hybrit, which is a collaboration between the mining company LKAB, SSAB and Vattenfall, with the support of the Swedish Energy Agency. The idea is to make the whole process, from mine to finished steel, as environmentally friendly as possible:
LKAB will manufacture iron ore pellets with fossil-free fuels. SSAB will use hydrogen instead of coke to produce so-called iron sponge, a raw material for steel production. Hydrogen gas is produced with the help of electricity, this is where Vattenfall comes in.
Is the call The direct reduction of iron ore to be tested in Luleå, the plant will be inaugurated today at lunchtime by Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. The idea is that SSAB will start building a larger demonstration plant in three years, the goal is to be able to launch the new steel on the world market in 2026 and have a full-scale production in 2035.
Here’s how SSAB’s CEO Martin Lindqvist responded this summer to the question of how the pandemic affected the business:
– Of course it is difficult time, but it is not the beginning of the end of the world. We must be able to think long term even during a crisis. For us, this is business development, I am convinced that we benefit from having the first fossil-free steel value chain in the industry.
He continued:
– We are already the most carbon dioxide efficient steel producer in the world, and you may be proud of that for a while, but we are still a big part of the problem. It is bad to emit carbon dioxide, it must cost and we alone account for 10 percent of Sweden’s emissions.
