A new industrial initiative, backed by EIT InnoEnergy, will build the world’s first large-scale steel production plant powered by green hydrogen, in north Sweden.
The H2 Green Steel industrial initiative, which will mobilise €2.5bn of investment, aims to deliver a project that will create a new green steel producer from inception.
The demand-driven business case for the initiative includes cheap renewable power, production of green hydrogen to process the iron, as well as an “innovative” downstream steel manufacturing technologies, bringing together “key players” in the region.
The initiative will create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Large-scale production will start as early as 2024 and an annual throughput of five million tonnes of high-quality steel is planned to be reached by 2030.
Steel is responsible for 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions annually, and green hydrogen is seen as key to minimising emissions from the sector.
The H2 Green Steel initiative is the first flagship project of the European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center (EGHAC), which aims to support development of an annual €100bn green hydrogen economy by 2025.
The location for H2 Green Steel, in the Norrbotten region, offers favourable conditions for fossil-free steel production with ready access to cheap energy from renewable energy sources, high-quality iron ore, a large seaport at Lulea, and a cluster of world-leading expertise in metallurgy and steel production.