“I am incredibly proud of everything HYBRIT has achieved since its launch in 2016. Thanks to the successful results of the pilot project, we are well on our way to fundamentally changing the iron and steel industry,” said Martin Pei, SSAB's chief technology officer and HYBRIT Development AB’s board chairman.  

“At SSAB, we are now investing heavily to convert the entire Nordic production system to fossil-free steel production and have already started delivering fossil-free steel to customers on a smaller scale,” Pei added. 

The HYBRIT initiative is a collaboration between the steel company SSAB, the mining company LKAB and the energy company Vattenfall that was launched to fundamentally change the iron and steel industry. The initiative aims to virtually 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 process utilizes hydrogen and the direct reduction of iron with melting in an electric arc furnace. So far, more than 5,000 metric tons of hydrogen-reduced iron have been produced at HYBRIT’s pilot plant in Luleå, Sweden. Customers such as Volvo Group, Epiroc, Peab and many more are already using the fossil-free steel in vehicles, heavy machinery, buildings and consumer products, SSAB said.

The results from the pilot phase pave the way for implementing the HYBRIT process on an industrial scale.

“It has been a groundbreaking journey in a short period of time. The results from the pilot phase show that the process works and that we are ready for the next stage, where the demonstration plant that LKAB plans to build in Gällivare will be the first step towards industrial production of sponge iron. Our high-quality iron ore combined with good access to fossil-free energy provides unique conditions for establishing a competitive value chain for future fossil-free iron and steel production,” said Jenny Greberg, vice president technology at LKAB and board member of HYBRIT Development AB.