Sweden Moves One Step Closer to Green Steel

A fossil fuel-free steel joint venture known as Hybrit, comprising energy firm Vattenfall, steel company SSAB and mining group LKAB, has completed successful trials of its technology.

The project is considered to be world’s first fossil fuel-free steel plant and claims to have the potential of reducing Sweden‘s carbon dioxide emissions by 10%.

LKAB’s pellet plant in Malmberget aims to produce fossil-free iron ore pellets using renewable electricity and a greener heating technology – alternative fuels, including hydrogen and plasma, have been tested in the process.

The full-scale tests, which will last until 2021, will replace fossil oil with bio-oil, reducing emissions for the operation by 40% during the test.

Markus Petäjäniemi, Senior Vice President Market and Technology at LKAB, said: Achieving positive results from different heating technologies represents an important milestone on the road to delivering the world’s very first fossil-free iron ore pellets and further on in the value chain for fossil-free steel.

Martin Pei, CTO at SSAB and initiator of the HYBRIT project, commented: SSAB’s goal is to be able to offer fossil-free steel to the market as early as 2026.

About Sheida Bahramirad

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