This Swedish Company Uses Steel Production To Produce Hydrogen
Nov 13, 2023 8:52 pm
How This Swedish Company Uses Steel Production To Produce Hydrogen
2 min read
SSAB is a Swedish steel company with a production capacity of approximately 9 million tonnes of steel products per year. They have developed a way of replacing coal with hydrogen in the steel making process, which means that instead of carbon dioxide being emitted, water is now a product of the energy intensive process. They have called this process HYBRIT technology, which was formed in partnership with LKAB (Europe’s largest iron ore producer) and Vattenfall (one of Europe’s largest energy companies).
HYBRIT is also making use of underground hydrogen storage facilities to store the hydrogen that is to be used in the steel production process. The process is expected to use fossil-free electricity (in the form of wind power) to produce steel, as the steel production process is very energy intensive.
In favourable conditions (windy weather), the HYBRIT facility will use excess electricity to produce green hydrogen, which will then be stored to be used in their steel making process. SSAB claims that their hydrogen storage facility can store 100 GWh of electricity in the form of hydrogen gas – enough to power a full-sized sponge iron factory for three to four days, or 1.1 million South African homes for three to four days.
Normal steel production process:
Steel production process with hydrogen:
Since SSAB accounts for 10% of Sweden’s total fuel emissions, it is fitting that their aim is to decarbonise their entire supply chain and to share their technology with other organisations and industries.
Their goal is reduce Sweden’s carbon emissions by 10% and Finland’s by 7%. They are currently on target to deliver their first carbon free steel commercial products by 2026. This type of steel will be used to make cars, planes, wind turbines, bridges, and many other products. They also aim to eliminate the majority of their carbon emissions by 2030. According to SSAB, HYBRIT technology will reduce global steel industry emissions by 40-50 million tonnes a year.
In October 2021, SSAB announced a collaboration agreement with Volvo Group to research and develop the serial commercialisation of the world’s first vehicles to be made of fossil-free steel. They also announced a collaboration with Faurecia to produce fossil-free steel for automotive seat structures.
What do you think of the HYBRIT technology? Do you think that this is something that can push renewable energy forward? Share your thoughts by replying to this email!
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