Stegra receives €100m from Industrial Leap Fund
Swedish greenfield venture Stegra, formerly known as H2 Green Steel, has been granted about €100 million ($111m) from Sweden’s Industrial Leap Fund for its establishment of a near-zero-emission mill.
In 2018, Sweden introduced a national climate law and implemented an “Industrial Leap Fund”, as a means to support the commercialisation of innovation in the industry, Kallanish learns.
Stegra points out that the financial grant helps to better balance the playing field, in relation to steel companies in Europe that have received large support packages. “This creates the prerequisites for us to build up a long-term sustainable and competitive industry in Sweden,” says Stegra chief executive Henrik Henriksson.
Stegra adds that its climate calculations are based on CINEA’s methodology. CINEA is the European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency – the European Commission agency which manages decarbonisation and sustainable growth. The calculations have been verified by an external expert, DNV, and all input data has been validated by independent auditor PWC, Stegra notes.
Christian Koehl Germany
Stegra bets on Sines, Portugal
Swedish greenfield venture H2 Green Steel is changing its name to Stegra, Kallanish learns. The company also says its prospective project in Portugal has received power allocation.
H2 Green Steel was launched in 2021 to build the world’s first large-scale green steel plant, with start of production scheduled in 2026. “The team continues to prove that it is possible to do more and to change things fast, also in an industry that has for a long time been considered difficult to decarbonise. As we continue this journey, we leave our more descriptive project name behind, and take on the name Stegra, which reflects our long-term ambitions,” says company chief executive Henrik Henriksson.
“Stegra is a Swedish word which means ‘to elevate’,” Henriksson explains. “It is a constant reminder of the company’s purpose and honours our Swedish roots and where it all began in Boden (northern Sweden).”
Stegra also notes it has a “solid funnel of potential projects” outside of Sweden that are being explored as part of a longer-term outlook. It is looking at locations which offer abundant access to renewable electricity and strong grid connections. Locations under consideration include Portugal, Canada and Brazil.
“Presently, a project in Portugal, where the site selection has been made and land reserved near Sines, is the most advanced. Notification on substantial allocation of the power needed has been made to Stegra and our local value chain partnerships continue to evolve,” says Henriksson.
The firm said in June it was looking at Portugal as a viable location for HBI production (see Kallanish passim).
Christian Koehl Germany
Sweden’s H2 Green Steel rebrands as Stegra, eyes projects in Portugal, Canada, Brazil
H2 Green Steel, the startup targeting to produce steel with up to 95% less CO2 emissions in Boden, Sweden, said Sept. 12 it is also looking at projects outside the country while announcing a rebranding to Stegra.
Stegra will explore the potential for growth over the long term, leveraging its experience at the Boden plant, it said in the press release.
“Stegra has a solid funnel of potential projects outside of Sweden that are being explored as part of a longer-term outlook,” the company said.
Projects are characterized by locations where the company’s customers need help with value-chain decarbonization and those that offer abundant access to renewable power and strong grid connections. The locations under consideration include Portugal, Canada and Brazil.
“Presently, a project in Portugal, where the site selection has been made and land reserved near Sines, is the most advanced. Notification on substantial allocation of the power needed has been made to Stegra and our local value chain partnerships continue to evolve,” said CEO Henrik Henriksson.
H2 Green Steel was launched in 2021 to reduce emissions in the steel industry within an ambitious timeline and it is Europe’s first greenfield mill in 50 years, set to produce low-carbon steel in a fully integrated production process, using electricity from renewable sources and green hydrogen.
H2 Green Steel’s project includes a giga-scale green hydrogen plant as an integrated part of the steel production facility. Use of hydrogen rather than coal in the production represents one of the main routes for the industry to reduce its CO2 emissions, with H2 Green Steel pioneering the technology in Europe. The facility will produce the green hydrogen necessary to make green iron and plans to supply 5 million metric tons of high-quality green steel to the market by 2030.
A Stegra spokesperson told S&P Global Commodity Insights that timeline for the Boden mill remains with the company that has started to put roofs on buildings in August and during summer received the first production equipment.
“We are building the railway on the site that will connect to the public railway. Presently we are around 1,000 construction workers on site and this will grow exponentially over the coming months,” she said.
Having secured funding of Eur6.5 billion for its venture, the company is one of the most watched energy transition startups as the steel industry is responsible for around 5% of CO2 emissions in the EU and 7% globally. The sector needs to develop and commercialize new low-CO2 technologies within the next 5-10 years to be in line with the EU’s climate targets.
Platts carbon-accounted steel assessments
Following market trend and recent technology innovations, Platts, part of Commodity Insights, launched Sept. 11 the first ever carbon-accounted rebar and medium sections assessments, after having launched in May 2023 the world’s first carbon-accounted flat steel assessment for HRC.
Platts assessed Northwest European carbon-accounted hot-rolled coil at Eur660 per metric ton ex-works Ruhr Sept. 11, stable on the day. Platts assessed Northwest European carbon-accounted rebar at Eur685/t EXW Northwest Europe on Sept. 11, Commodity Insights data showed.
Tradable values for the premium were reported at Eur30-40/t for CO2e content around 0.1-0.2 metric ton, and at Eur30-180/t for CO2e content around 0.1-0.5 metric ton, both under scopes 1-2.
Platts assessed European carbon-accounted medium sections at Eur882.50/t DDP Europe on Sept. 11. Tradable values for the premium were reported at Eur80/t for CO2e content around 0.1-0.2 metric ton, and at Eur30-180/t for CO2e content around 0-0.5 metric ton, both under scopes 1-2, according to data from Commodity Insights.
