World's first fossil-free steel produced by Sweden's HYBRIT

Swedish green steel project HYBRIT has announced that it has made the world's first delivery of green steel - made without the use of coal or fossil fuels, as it looks to continue revolutionising a notoriously hard-to-abate sector.

HYBRIT, a joint venture between steelmaker SSAB, state-owned energy company Vattenfall, and mining company LKAB, said the green steel would be delivered to automaker Volvo as a trial run ahead of full commercial production begins in 2026.

At a press conference, Ibrahim Baylan, Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation, told journalists that he was "happy to be minister for enterprise and energy in a country where industry is bubbling with energy for a (green) reset."

The HYBRIT fossil-free steel pilot plant began test operations around a year ago in the northern Swedish coastal city of Luleå.

Read more: Operations begin at Sweden's HYBRIT fossil-free steel plant

Steelmaker SSAB alone is responsible for 10% of Sweden's CO2 emissions, and 7% in neighbouring Finland. In a statement, the company said the trial delivery was an "important step towards a completely fossil-free value chain".

The statement also said that "the goal is to deliver fossil-free steel to the market and demonstrate the technology on an industrial scale as early as 2026."

Hydrogen is becoming an increasingly viable alternative to coal. HYBRIT is one of several projects in Europe aimed at changing an industry heavily reliant on the burning of fossil fuels, traditionally coking coal, with carbon-neutral electricity and hydrogen.

H2 Green Steel is also planning to construct a fossil-free steel plant in nearby Norrbotten with construction starting in 2024.

Read more: Steeling the future: Using hydrogen to make green steel

In June, at the voestalpine steel plant in Donawitz, Austria, the hydrogen-based fine-ore reduction (HYFOR) plant began a trial run. Operated by Primetals Technologies, HYFOR uses hydrogen to power an innovative steelmaking technology capable of receiving iron ore fines and concentrates as feed, avoiding the beneficiation step, cutting emissions by 90% as well as operational costs. 

Earlier this year, truck-maker Volvo said the production of prototype vehicles featuring components made from HYBRIT's green steel would start this year. 

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