Blastr Green Steel has successfully completed its second strategic partner financing round to bolster the development of the integrated low carbon CO2 steel value chain, centered around its flagship steel plant located in Inkoo, Finland, the Norwegian company stated on Feb 3.
The latest financing round saw participation from three of Blastr’s founding investors and three new Finnish investors, all committed to sustainable growth. The first round of finance was done in June 2024. The company did not disclose how much has raised until now when asked by S&P Global Commodity Insights, but it confirmed that in total it should needed around Eur4 bln ($4.96 bln) of investment for its project.
Blastr is planning a direct-reduced iron (DRI-EAF) steel plant with an integrated green hydrogen production facility to produce 2.5 million mt of low-carbon steel in Inkoo, Finland. The company is also planning to build a pellet plant to produce 6 million mt of DR pellet feedstock annually to feed the steel plant in Finland. At the moment the company is looking for the DRI location and is exploring building it in the UK, the company’s spokesperson told S&P Global Commodity Insights on Feb. 3.
The new partners include Aurora Infrastructure, Onvest Oy, and Security Trading Oy. Aurora Infrastructure specializes in asset financing and the development of electricity networks in the Nordic region, while Onvest Oy is a family-owned enterprise that supports sustainable growth initiatives. Security Trading Oy focuses on sustainable investments.
The existing investors, which include commodity giant Cargill, Finland’s state-owned venture capital firm Tesi, and Blastr’s founding entity Vanir Green Industries, have also increased their stakes in the company, but the company did not disclose by how much.
“Blastr’s green steel project is a significant industrial investment for Finland, exactly what the country needs to accelerate its transition to a sustainable future,” Aurora Infrastructure’s CEO Robin Lindahl said.
“The Inkoo site, with its existing infrastructure and strategic location, is ideally suited for such an initiative. Projects like this are what we want to support at Aurora Infrastructure, and we have a proven track record of serving some of the largest industrial sites in Finland,” he added.
In late 2024, Blastr submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the Inkoo plant to Finnish authorities. The report confirmed that the facility could be developed sustainably, and Blastr plans to apply for the necessary environmental permits in 2025.
As the demand for green steel continues to rise, Blastr Green Steel is poised to play a crucial role in transforming the steel industry while contributing to Finland’s economic growth. Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed Northwest European hot-rolled coil carbon accounted at Eur655/mt ex-works Ruhr on Jan. 31, stable day over day. The assessment was calculated in line with the sum of Platts’ daily carbon-accounted steel premium (CASP) assessment and Platts’ daily hot-rolled coil price assessment in Northwest Europe.