Sweden leads the race for zero emissions

Sweden is pioneering the effort for zero emissions and is focusing on becoming the first non-carbon country to achieve this and has already for 5 years designed its strategy.

Three major Swedish industries, steel, ore and energy, SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall, created in 2016, HYBRIT, Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology, with the aim of developing a technology for coal-free iron and steel production.

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In June 2021, the three companies were able to introduce the world’s first hydrogen spongy iron, produced at HYBRIT’s pilot plant in Luleå. This raw material has since been used to produce the first steel made with this innovative technology.

Today their goal is to deliver carbon-free steel to the market and apply the technology on an industrial scale, from 2026. Using HYBRIT technology, SSAB has the potential to reduce Sweden’s total carbon dioxide emissions by about ten percent and Finland’s by about seven percent.

The Swedish SSAB, one of the largest steelworks in the world, has already delivered the first batch of green steel to its customer. This pilot delivery is an important step in the production of green iron and steel and a station for the HYBRIT (Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology) collaboration between SSAB, LKAB (Swedish State Ore Company) and Vattenfall (Swedish State Energy Company).

It is one of the first projects in the world that tried to use renewable hydrogen to produce green steel in a pilot plant and was successful.

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By 2026, the goal is to demonstrate what HYBRIT technology can do on an industrial scale, and given that SSAB currently produces 10% of Sweden’s carbon emissions on its own, the consequences of its green transition will be huge for the country.

In July, SSAB Oxelösund produced steel for the first time using HYBRIT technology with hydrogen instead of coal with good results. This steel has already been delivered to its first customer, the Volvo Group.

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