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07/09/2021

Fossil-free value chain for iron becoming reality

Euromines member LKAB has partnered with SSAB and Vattenfall to create HYBRIT, a joint venture company that is now the first in the world that produces fossil-free steel. In July 2021, SSAB Oxelösund rolled the first steel produced with LKAB iron ore using HYBRIT technology, i.e., reduced by 100% fossil-free hydrogen instead of coal and coke, with good results. The steel is now being delivered to the first customer, the Volvo Group. The trial delivery is an important step on the way to a completely fossil-free value chain for iron and steelmaking and a milestone in the HYBRIT partnership between SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall.

The HYBRIT, Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology, was created in 2016, with the aim of developing a technology for fossil-free iron and steelmaking. In June 2021, the three companies were able to showcase the world’s first hydrogen-reduced sponge iron produced at HYBRIT’s pilot plant in Luleå. This first sponge iron has since been used to produce the first steel made with this breakthrough technology.

1st September was an important day for HYBRIT’s Research project 1 as the results were presented to the wider audience at the ESTAD-conference hosted by Järnkontoret.

Read more on HYBRIT website(link is external).

“Industry and especially the steel industry create large emissions but are also an important part of the solution. To drive the transition and become the world’s first fossil-free welfare state, collaboration between business, universities and the public sector is crucial. The work done by SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall within the framework of HYBRIT drives the development of the entire industry and is an international model”, says Minister of Trade and Industry of Sweden Ibrahim Baylan.

European mining industry will be decisive for a transition to a Low-Carbon society, it has adopted ambitious carbon management policies and targets. Work to reduce, eliminate and offset emissions in operations includes a wide variety of strategies such as transitioning to electric vehicles, utilising advanced exploration technologies and optimising ore extraction.

“It’s a crucial milestone and an important step towards creating a completely fossil-free value chain from mine to finished steel. We’ve now shown together that it’s possible, and the journey continues. By industrializing this technology in future and making the transition to the production of sponge iron on an industrial scale, we will enable the steel industry to make the transition. This is the greatest thing we can do together for the climate,” says Jan Moström, President and CEO of LKAB.

“The first fossil-free steel in the world is not only a breakthrough for SSAB, it represents proof that it’s possible to make the transition and significantly reduce the global carbon footprint of the steel industry. We hope that this will inspire others to also want to speed up the green transition,” says Martin Lindqvist, President and CEO.

The goal is to deliver fossil-free steel to the market and demonstrate the technology on an industrial scale as early as 2026. Using HYBRIT technology, SSAB has the potential to reduce Sweden’s total carbon dioxide emissions by approximately ten per cent and Finland’s by approximately seven per cent.

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