The number of end users looking into low-emission steel procurement continues to increase in Europe, including for innovative applications such as wave energy, Kallanish notes.
SSAB and wave energy developer CorPower Ocean have signed an agreement to explore the development of one of the world’s first wave energy power plants made using fossil-free steel from 2026.
CorPower Ocean makes products that harness ocean waves to generate clean energy, and recently deployed its first commercial scale device off the coast of northern Portugal. Currently around 25% of these products’ lifetime CO2 emissions comes from the use of steel as a material. SSAB has been a supplier for ten years. Its customer now plans to build a wave energy system with significantly lower carbon emissions.
A recent CorPower Ocean study showed wave energy will play an instrumental role helping decarbonise the steel industry, by being used to create green hydrogen to make green steel. Ocean energy could help stabilise the carbon-free energy supply required for electrolysis to produce hydrogen, given the intermittency of wind and solar supply (see Kallanish passim).
Ventilation systems producer Lindab meanwhile says it has contracted ArcelorMittal to supply recycled steel for use in its ventilation ducts. This material contains 75% recycled material, resulting in a 62% reduction in climate impact, the Swedish firm says.
This complements Lindab’s procurement of fossil-free steel from SSAB, which is scheduled to start in 2026 after the parties signed an agreement two years ago (see Kallanish passim).
“Steel manufacturers are making a lot of progress right now. We want to offer customers choices so that they, like us, can benefit from the technological advances in sustainability. Ventilation ducts are very well suited for production in recycled and fossil-free steel. Considering how many metres of ventilation ducts there are in a large building, sustainable ventilation ducts make a difference to the overall climate impact of the building,” says Lindab president and chief executive Ola Ringdahl.
Adam Smith Poland
