Swedish specialty steel producer SSAB, together with Swedish iron ore producer LKAB and Swedish power company Vattenfall have produced the world’s first hydrogen-reduced sponge iron at a pilot scale, SSAB has announced. According to the statement, the technological breakthrough in the HYBRIT initiative captures around 90 percent of emissions in conjunction with steelmaking.
The HYBRIT pilot plant in Luleå, Sweden, has completed test production of sponge iron and demonstrates that it is possible to use fossil-free hydrogen gas to reduce iron ore instead of using coal and coke to remove the oxygen. Around 100 metric tons of sponge iron have been produced so far. This is the first time ever that hydrogen made with fossil-free electricity has been used in the direct reduction of iron ore at a pilot scale.
The goal in principle is to eliminate carbon emissions from the steelmaking process by using only fossil-free feedstock and fossil-free energy in all parts of the value chain.
“This is a major breakthrough both for us and for the entire iron and steel industry. LKAB is the future supplier of sponge iron. In 2026, we will begin the switch to industrial-scale production with the first demonstration plant in Gällivare, Sweden. Once LKAB has converted its entire production to sponge iron, we will enable the transition of the steel industry and reduce global emissions by around 35 million mt a year, which corresponds to two thirds of Sweden’s entire emissions,” Jan Moström, president and CEO at LKAB, said.
Last year, HYBRIT began test operations to make hydrogen-reduced sponge iron in the pilot plant, as SteelOrbis previously reported.