An industrial implementation of the HYBRIT process
HYBRIT Demonstration Project
Through the HYBRIT project, LKAB together with steel makers SSAB and energy company Vattenfall, aims to revolutionise the industry by replacing fossil-based technologies with a hydrogen-based process for iron and steel production. The project has received support from the EU's Innovation Fund, CINEA.
About the HYBRIT project
The HYBRIT Demonstration project aims to decrease carbon emissions in the iron and steel industry by creating a fossil-free value chain, from iron to steel, using hydrogen produced from clean electricity, rather than coal and coke. This is a crucial step to deliver on the EU’s Hydrogen Strategy and EU-wide climate neutrality by 2050.
Today, crude iron production in coal-fired blast furnaces, followed by steel manufacturing using oxygen converters, accounts for 95% of the global steel production from iron ore. While this method produces high quality and high strength carbon steel, even a state-of-the-art blast furnace process generates about 1,6 tonnes of CO2eq for each tonne of crude steel (the global average is about 2,2 tonnes of CO2eq per tonne crude steel).
The HYBRIT technology could potentially replace the traditional blast furnace technology, using coke and coal, with fossil-free, hydrogen-based direct reduction. The aim of the HYBRIT Demonstration project is to, in a first step, develop a value chain producing 1,2 million tonnes of crude steel annually. This makes up 25% of Sweden’s steel production and would potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1,43 million tonnes of CO2eq in the first ten years of production.
This requires a great deal of innovation at both technological and logistical levels: including plant design, operating approach, construction, quality, reliability, availability, and maintenance.
Project Summary
Coordinator:
Hybrit Development AB
Beneficiaries:
SSAB EMEA AB, Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB
Location:
Sweden
Sector:
Iron and steel
Amount of Innovation Fund grant:
EUR 143 000 000
GHG Emission Avoidance:
14,3 Mt CO2eq (first 10 years of operation)
Starting date:
April 2022
A crucial building block to deliver the EU’s Hydrogen Strategy and help to achieve the objective of EU-wide climate neutrality by 2050.
On top of reinforcing the existing European steel value chain, it will support the creation of new European value chains, such as electrolyser production and hydrogen storage.
Positive impacts on the local and regional economy, both in terms of employment and contribution to a green economy.
Regional, national and global
The HYBRIT Demonstration project proposes many technological solutions that are transferrable, both regionally, nationally and globally. Besides planning to expand the project by building further production capacity in Gällivare, the on-site hydrogen production and a potential future hydrogen storage, for example, is transferable within the sector to other sites, especially considering that the simultaneous development of hydrogen production, storage, transport and end use will de-risk investment and drive self-reinforcing developments.
The replicability of the technology is associated with huge climate benefits, offering a considerable impact on the steel production worldwide. At sector level the technological solution is estimated to be able to reduce emissions by one billion tonnes of CO2eq per year by 2050.
Latest on the HYBRIT initiative:
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
