HYBRIT: Six years of research paves the way for successful fossil-free iron and steel production on an industrial scale

The HYBRIT initiative is a collaboration between the steel company SSAB, the mining company LKAB and the energy company Vattenfall, which was started in 2016 to fundamentally change the iron and steel industry. The investment aims to, in principle, eliminate carbon dioxide emissions in the steel industry by replacing coal and coke in the production of iron with fossil-free hydrogen and electricity. The transition to HYBRIT technology is expected to reduce Sweden's total carbon dioxide emissions by over 10 percent.

The project is the first in the world to show that the fossil-free value chain – from ore to steel – works on a semi-industrial scale. The research results that are now reported span from the year 2018 to 2024. HYBRIT has received several patents and the project is now continuing in the next phase where the process is implemented on an industrial scale.  

“It is very gratifying to see the positive results of our targeted cooperation, partnership is a recipe for success. The next step involves scaling up to an industrial scale where fossil-free electricity and hydrogen are what enable the transition to a future where it is possible for everyone to transport, produce and live fossil-free”, says Andreas Regnell,

Head of Strategic Development at Vattenfall and board member of Hybrit Development AB.

“The focus of HYBRIT's technical development has been to build competence and create technical conditions for the implementation of a fossil-free process in a full-scale production. We are very happy that as a team we were able to deliver successful results that reached or exceeded set project goals. The knowledge and experience we developed during the course of the project will now be focused on continuing technology development, primarily to support the industrialization of the owner companies”, says Ulf Spolander, General Manager of Hybrit Development AB.

Hybrit Development AB will continue to conduct research and development with the aim of supporting the industrialization of the technology together with the owner companies, including delivering solutions to LKAB's planned demonstration plant in Gällivare. The pilot project for storing fossil-free hydrogen in Svartöberget in Luleå, Sweden, continues until 2026.

The HYBRIT project has been allocated funds by the EU's Innovation Fund and by Industriklivet. It is also part of the European IPCEI project Hy2Use (Hydrogen), where a total of 35 projects from 12 countries are included with the aim of supporting rapid changeover and increasing the competitiveness of the European industrial sector.

“The path towards net-zero emissions in industry requires investment in innovative and technology-shifting solutions. This is where The Industrial Leap plays an important role. The ambition is that the knowledge from the various initiatives will spread and accelerate the industry's transition,” says Klara Helstad, Head of the Sustainable Industry Unit at the Swedish Energy Agency.

Read more about the HYBRIT results in a longer version of the press release.

For more information, please contact:

Anna Molin, Press Officer, SSAB, +46 76 110 46 76, anna.molin@ssab.com 
Anders Lindberg, Group Media Relations Manager, +46 72 717 83 55, redaktion@lkab.com 
Magnus Kryssare, Press secretary Vattenfall, +46 76 769 56 07, magnus.kryssare@vattenfall.com