HYBRIT receives funding from the EU Innovation Fund
Mitigating climate change is essential, and there is no time to lose.
The HYBRIT-initiative driven by SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall has now officially received support from the European Union as one of seven innovative projects under the Innovation Fund.
The project receives in total €143 million for an industrial- and commercial-scale demonstration of a complete value chain for hydrogen-based iron- and steelmaking, from mine to fossil-free steel.
HYBRIT was granted support to further advance the development towards eliminating emissions from iron and steel production by using fossil-free hydrogen for direct reduction of iron ore in the process.
The project will continue with proving the technical and commercial viability of the HYBRIT value chain, including:
- A demonstration of the hydrogen direct reduction process, including fossil-free hydrogen production in Gällivare, Sweden
- A demonstration of electric melting of hydrogen-based direct reduced iron
- A demonstration of fossil-free DR-pellets production for the hydrogen reduction process
Frans Timmermans, Executive VP of the European Commission responsible for the European Green Deal, said, “Hybrit is paving the way for a fundamental change in the global steel industry. It also demonstrates how fast the green transition can happen: a few years ago, the possibility of producing emission-free steel would have sounded like science fiction. Now, green steel is entering the market.”
Lars Ydreskog, Senior VP at LKAB, commented, “With the upcoming plant in Gallivare, we will establish a first-of-a-kind facility and process for producing fossil-free sponge iron in an industrial scale.”
Andreas Regnell, SVP at Vattenfall and Chairman of HYBRIT added, “Vattenfall is determined to reach fossil-free living within one generation, and the HYBRIT-technology is crucial to reach that goal.”
Martin Pei, CTO at SSAB, noted, “We´d like to thank the EU Innovation Fund for their trust and confidence in the HYBRIT-initiative as well as the ability to create a completely fossil-free value chain from mine to steel.”
