In August 2021 Swedish green steel venture HYBRIT made the
world's first customer delivery of steel produced without using coal. HYBRIT, owned by the Swedish steel company
SSAB, state-owned utility
Vattenfall and mining company
LKAB delivered the steel to truck-maker Volvo AB as a trial run before full commercial production in 2026.
HYBRIT's (Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology) goal is to revolutionize the iron and steel industry by developing a fossil-free value chain for iron and steel production using fossil-free electricity and hydrogen, thus minimizing the carbon dioxide emissions throughout the value chain. The HYBRIT technology involves replacing the blast furnace process, which uses carbon and coke to remove the oxygen from iron ore, with a direct reduction process that uses fossil-free hydrogen produced from water using electricity from fossil-free energy sources. Instead of carbon dioxide, water vapor is formed. This will be the world's first fossil-free reduction of iron ore to give sponge iron, a central step for fossil-free iron and steel production.
HYBRIT intends to be a leader in the transition to sustainable steel-making for an industry accounts for around 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions by:
- Pursuing the transition towards a fossil-free value chain from mine to steel using fossil-free electricity and hydrogen.
- Providing the technical conditions for minimizing carbon dioxide emissions from the iron and steel industry.
- Creating a research and development platform for companies in the value chain to collaborate and create the best conditions for fossil-free steel.
HYBRIT started test operations at its pilot plant for fossil-free steel in Lulea, northern Sweden, in 2020 with intent to deliver fossil-free steel to the market and demonstrate the technology on an industrial scale as early as 2026.
Visit the HYBRIT website at
HYBRIT Fossil-free Steel.