Name of the Project
Hybrit pilot plant.

Location
Northern Sweden

Project Owner/s
SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall.

Project Description
Hybrit aims to replace coking coal, traditionally required for ore-based steelmaking, with hydrogen, which will result in the world’s first fossil-free steelmaking technology, with virtually no carbon footprint.

The project aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 25 kg/t of steel from about 1.6 t using hydrogen to produce direct reduced iron (DRI) as a feedstock and scrap to make the metal. Electrolysing water from renewable-energy sources will generate the hydrogen.

The initiative could reduce Sweden’s total carbon dioxide emissions by 10% and those in Finland by 7%.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Planning and designing the pilot plant will cost about SKr20-million, of which the Swedish Energy Agency will fund half.

Planned Start/End Date
The pilot phase is planned to continue to 2024. Demonstration phase trials will be conducted from 2025 to 2035.

Latest Developments
The project has taken a major step and has started test operations for the production of fossil-free sponge.

Product launch in a “big, commercial scale” is planned for the first quarter of 2026 and will target “the automotive industry and others,” SSAB’s CEO Martin Lindqvist has said.

A key component in the Hybrit process is the supply of fossil-free electricity, according to Vattenfall’s chief executive Magnus Hall.

Sweden already uses mostly hydro, wind and nuclear power to meet its electricity needs. In 2019, fossil fuel generated only a 1.3% share of the country’s power, data compiled by Swedenergy has shown.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
SSAB, Viktoria Karsberg, tel +46 722335288 or email viktoria.karsberg@ssab.com.
LKAB, Erika Lindblad, tel +46 72 524 12 41 or email erika.lindblad@lkab.com.
Vattenfall, Magnus Kryssare, tel +46 767695607 or email magnus.kryssare@vattenfall.com.