Swedish steelmaker SSAB has signed an agreement with state-owned energy company Vattenfall to supply green steel for a new dam gate, to be the largest and first of its kind globally produced from ironmaking with near-zero fossil carbon emissions.
SSAB said the agreement covers a pilot delivery of 120 tonnes of HYBRIT-produced steel for the new dam gate, produced via electric-arc furnace (EAF) with “fossil-free sponge iron”.
HYBRIT is a joint project between SSAB, Vattenfall, and ironmaker LKAB, seeking to create a fossil-free production chain from raw materials to finished steel, beginning with hydrogen-based direct-reduced iron (H2-DRI) through to green energy-powered EAF steelmaking.
“This is an important step in our shared commitment to reducing carbon emissions. With forward-thinking partners like Vattenfall, we continue to lead the transformation of the steel industry. Our successful collaboration through HYBRIT now demonstrates what we can achieve to reduce the climate footprint across the entire value chain,” said Thomas Hörnfeldt, Vice President of Sustainability at SSAB.
The steelmaker describes its fossil-free steel as a “proof-of-concept for the emission-free materials of the future, demonstrating that it is possible to manufacture large, complex components with a radically reduced climate footprint.”
As European authorities signal that sustainability criteria could be incorporated into public procurement directives or mandates via legislative proposals scheduled for this year, a demonstration of the applicability of low-carbon steel to larger-scale infrastructural developments could advantage SSAB’s HYBRIT steel in this emerging market.
HYBRIT-based renovations and developments are expected to become fully operational, and scale, between 2028-2029, as detailed in McCloskey’s European Green Steel Profile.
Benjamin Steven Journalist, Steel
