Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB, the mining company LKAB and the energy company Vattenfall have taken a decisive step toward fossil-free steelmaking with the start-up of their Hybrit (Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology) pilot plant for the production of fossil-free sponge iron.

Hybrit is a groundbreaking effort to reduce emissions in the steel industry by using hydrogen instead of coking coal in the steelmaking process. And last month, that technology was put to the test at a pilot plant for the first time in Lulea, northern Sweden, marking the launch of operations of the world's first fossil-free hydrogen-powered steel plant.

The Hybrit initiative, which is a joint collaboration of these three companies, aims to create a complete value chain for fossil-free steel. The purpose of the collaboration is to develop the world's first fossil-free ore-based steelmaking process. The by-product obtained by using fossil-free electricity and hydrogen instead of coke and coal in steel production is water instead of carbon dioxide.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven started up the plant

Work on the plant started Just over two years ago on June 20, 2018, when the ground was broken to mark the start of building the pilot plant for fossil-free sponge iron (direct reduced iron/hot briquetted iron) with financial support from the Swedish Energy Agency.

At the plant, Hybrit will perform tests in several stages in the use of hydrogen in the direct reduction of iron ore. The hydrogen will be produced at the pilot plant by electrolyzing water with fossil-free electricity. Tests will be carried out between 2020 and 2024, first using natural gas and then hydrogen to be able to compare production results.

The framework for Hybrit also includes a full-scale effort to replace fossil oil with bio oil in one of LKAB’s existing pellet plants in Malmberget in a test period extending until 2021. Preparations are also under way to build a test hydrogen storage facility on LKAB’s land in Svartöberget in Luleå, near the pilot plant.

The Hybrit initiative has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10 pe cent in Sweden and 7 per cent in Finland, as well as contributing to cutting steel industry emissions in Europe and globally. Today, the steel industry generates 7 per cent of total global carbon-dioxide emissions, according to the three companies.