Swedish renewable hydrogen-for-steel project Hybrit has completed a hydrogen storage pilot project, with flexible power procurement reducing variable operating costs by up to 31%, the group said Feb. 27.
The Hybrit collaboration between steelmaker SSAB, iron ore miner LKAB and power company Vattenfall said hydrogen production costs could be cut by 25%-40% when the first commercial plants are commissioned.
“The results show that it is technically possible to store fossil-free hydrogen gas for producing fossil-free iron and steel on an industrial scale,” Vattenfall said in a statement.
Hybrit optimized hydrogen storage in real time against both spot and intraday power markets, with cost savings of 26%-31% in the trial.
The pilot storage facility has operated intermittently since 2022 in 3-6-week periods.
“The pilot project has been highly successful and has given us the results we hoped for,” Vattenfall Industrial Partnerships industry decarbonization director Mikael Nordlander said in the statement. “We have shown that it is possible to use this technology to increase the flexibility of the electricity system and that it is a safe design that lasts over time.”
Vattenfall said the group reached 3,800 hours of operation, with 94% availability.
The project involved a 100-cu m steel-lined rock cavern in Svartoberget next to the direct reduction pilot plant for sponge iron production in Lulea, Sweden.
Hybrit said accelerated mechanical tests gave the equivalent results of 50 years’ operation.
The group will extend the pilot storage project to 2026 to carry out additional tests to optimize commercial storage design.
Vattenfall said around 7% of global CO2 emissions come from the steel sector. Hybrit technology could enable SSAB to reduce Sweden’s emissions by 10%, and Finland’s by 7%, it said.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed carbon-accounted hot-rolled coil steel in Northwest Europe at $648/st on Feb. 26, compared with conventional HRC prices CFR Antwerp at Eur550/st ($576/st).
