The world's first fossil-free sponge iron production

Hybrit Development AB, owned by SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall, is developing steelmaking technology using hydrogen gas instead of coal to minimize climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions from production.

The HYBRIT pilot plant will be able to produce fossil-free sponge iron for the production of fossil-free steel prototypes for customers as early as 2021.

This initiative has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10% in Sweden and 7% in Finland, as well as contribute to the reduction of emissions from the steel industry in Europe and around the world.

HYBRIT is expected to be able to move to testing using hydrogen to reduce iron ore in the pilot plant in Luleå within a few months, and SSAB therefore expects to be able to supply customers with the first non-fossil steel for prototyping. in 2021.

The HYBRIT initiative aims to develop technology that will challenge existing commercially available technology. The principal goal is to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from the process by using fossil raw materials and non-fossil energy in all parts of the value chain.

Today, the steel industry produces 7% of the world's total carbon dioxide emissions. With the help of HYBRIT, SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall aim to create a value chain from mine to finished steel that is completely fossil and introduce a completely new technology that uses electricity and hydrogen without fossil hydrocarbons instead of coal and coke to reduce the oxygen content of iron ore ... This means that ordinary water will be released instead of carbon dioxide.

Hybrit Development AB is a technology research and development company that will provide plant solutions and will play an important role in both projects. The development of technology takes place in close cooperation with the owner companies.

The HYBRIT initiative was launched in 2016 by three owners: SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall. The pilot plant for direct recovery at Luleå opened in August 2020. There are also plans for an underground storage facility in rock for non-fossil gas.

Another sponge iron plant has been built for Gällivare and will be launched in 2030 to process all products from the first fossil-free pellet plant. The total capacity will be 2.7 million tons of fossil-free sponge iron per year.

HYBRIT has received significant support from the Swedish Energy Agency through Industriklivet, before�