The HYBRIT initiative has reached a significant milestone with the release of its final report to the Swedish Energy Agency, marking the culmination of six years of intensive research. The report highlights that iron produced using the HYBRIT process, which replaces fossil fuels with green hydrogen, offers superior properties compared to traditionally produced iron. Building on these successful outcomes, HYBRIT has secured several patents and is now preparing to transition its groundbreaking technology to industrial-scale production.
“I am incredibly proud of what HYBRIT has achieved since its inception in 2016. The promising results from our pilot projects indicate that we are well on our way to fundamentally transforming the iron and steel industry. At SSAB, we are now heavily investing in converting our entire Nordic production system to fossil-free steelmaking and have already started delivering fossil-free steel to customers on a small scale,” said Martin Pei, Chief Technology Officer at SSAB and Chairman of Hybrit Development AB.
HYBRIT: A Revolutionary Collaboration
HYBRIT is a collaborative venture between steel manufacturer SSAB, mining company LKAB, and energy company Vattenfall, with the goal of revolutionizing the iron and steel industry. The initiative aims to virtually eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from steel production by replacing coal and coke with fossil-free hydrogen and electricity. This transition from coal-based blast furnace steelmaking to the HYBRIT process, combined with electric arc furnace melting, is expected to reduce Sweden’s total carbon emissions by over 10 percent.
As the world’s first project to demonstrate a fossil-free value chain—from ore to steel—at a semi-industrial scale, HYBRIT has produced over 5,000 tons of hydrogen-reduced iron at its pilot facility in Luleå. Customers including Volvo Group, Epiroc, Peab, and others are already utilizing this fossil-free steel in vehicles, heavy machinery, buildings, and consumer products, signaling strong market interest in the technology.
Six Years of Research Confirm HYBRIT’s Fossil-Free Process
The final report to the Swedish Energy Agency covers research conducted from 2018 to 2024, focusing on scaling technical solutions from laboratory settings to industrial applications, developing industrial process practices, and establishing an integrated value chain for hydrogen-based iron and steel production.
Key achievements from the pilot phase include:
- Development of a New Hydrogen-Based Technology: This innovative method enables efficient fossil-free iron and steel production with zero carbon emissions per ton of steel (scope 1 and 2).
- Creation of a New Fossil-Free Iron Product (Iron Sponge): This product, which has significantly better properties than iron reduced with fossil gases like natural gas, is free of carbon and has a high metallization rate (98-99%). It is more resistant to pressure, falls, and wear compared to industry references, offering advantages in transportation, storage, and smelting.
- Emission Evaluations: HYBRIT’s process transforms iron ore pellets into iron (iron sponge) using only fossil-free hydrogen, with water as the sole byproduct. This contrasts with conventional direct reduction technology, which uses natural gas and produces carbon dioxide emissions. The hydrogen reduction and electric arc furnace smelting result in only 42 kg of biogenic CO2 per ton of iron, compared to 383 kg of fossil CO2 per ton in a conventional natural gas process.
- New Industrial Process Development: The project tested 175 different process conditions to identify the most advantageous method for producing iron using hydrogen.
- Successful Long-Term Operation of Alkaline Electrolyzers: These electrolyzers, which split water into hydrogen and oxygen using fossil-free electricity, have been crucial in hydrogen production and storage. Tests using stored hydrogen in real-time energy markets demonstrated a potential reduction of up to 40 percent in variable hydrogen production costs.
- Development of an Efficient Process for Smelting Fossil-Free Iron Sponge to Crude Steel in Electric Arc Furnaces: In collaboration with the research institute Swerim, the fossil-free iron sponge was smelted using fossil-free electricity with minimal additions of biocarbon, oxygen, and slag formers. The results show that the fossil-free smelting process produces steel of the same high quality as today’s fossil-based ore steel.
Next Steps: Scaling Up to Industrial Production
With the successful pilot phase behind it, the HYBRIT project is now poised to scale its technology to industrial levels. Hybrit Development AB will continue research and development efforts to support the industrialization of this technology, including delivering solutions for LKAB’s planned demonstration plant in Gällivare. The pilot project for storing fossil-free hydrogen in Svartöberget, Luleå, will also continue through 2026.
“It has been a groundbreaking journey in a short period of time. The results from the pilot phase demonstrate that the process works, and we are ready to take the next step, with the demonstration plant in Gällivare being the first move towards industrial production of iron sponge. Our high-quality iron ore, combined with access to fossil-free energy, provides unique conditions to establish a competitive value chain for the future of fossil-free iron and steel production,” said Jenny Greberg, Chief Technology Officer at LKAB and board member of Hybrit Development AB.
Andreas Regnell, Chief Strategist at Vattenfall and board member of Hybrit Development AB, added: “It is very gratifying to see the positive results of our targeted collaboration—partnership is the recipe for success. The next step is scaling up to industrial levels where fossil-free electricity and hydrogen are key to enabling a future where everyone can transport, produce, and live fossil-free.”
The HYBRIT project has received funding from the EU’s Innovation Fund and from Industriklivet, and is part of the European IPCEI project Hy2Use (Hydrogen), which includes 35 projects from 12 countries aimed at supporting rapid transition and increasing the competitiveness of the European industrial sector.
“The road to net-zero emissions in industry requires investments in innovative and game-changing technologies, and Industriklivet plays a crucial role in this. The hope is that the knowledge gained from these initiatives will spread and accelerate the industry’s transition,” said Klara Helstad, Head of the Sustainable Industry Unit at the Swedish Energy Agency.
HYBRIT – Research Highlights 2018-2024
- Development of a new hydrogen-based technology enabling efficient fossil-free iron and steel production with 0.0 tons of CO2 emissions per ton of steel (scope 1 and 2).*
- Creation of a new iron product, iron sponge, with significantly better properties than iron reduced with fossil gases like natural gas. HYBRIT’s iron product is carbon-free and has a high metallization rate (98-99%). It is more resistant to pressure, falls, and wear than comparable industrial references, offering advantages in transportation, storage, and smelting.
- Comparative evaluations of CO2 emissions during hydrogen reduction versus reduction with fossil gases. In HYBRIT’s process, iron ore pellets are converted into iron (iron sponge) using only fossil-free hydrogen, with water as the sole byproduct. This differs from conventional direct reduction technology that uses natural gas, which emits CO2. Hydrogen reduction and electric arc furnace smelting produce 42 kg of biogenic CO2 per ton of directly reduced iron, compared to 383 kg of fossil CO2 per ton in a conventional natural gas process (excluding heating of the reduction gas in the comparison).
- Development of a new fossil-free and competitive industrial process where 175 process conditions were tested to identify the most advantageous method for producing iron using hydrogen.
- Successful long-term operation of alkaline electrolyzers for hydrogen production and storage. Electrolyzers are used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen using fossil-free electricity. The hydrogen is then used to remove oxygen from the iron ore pellets. Tests using stored hydrogen in real-time against the electricity market show that the variable cost of hydrogen production can be reduced by up to 40 percent.
- Development of an efficient process practice for smelting fossil-free iron sponge to crude steel in electric arc furnaces in collaboration with the research institute Swerim. The steel is produced by melting the fossil-free iron sponge with fossil-free electricity, along with minimal additions of biocarbon, oxygen, and slag formers. The experimental results show that the fossil-free smelting practice developed produces steel of the same high quality as today’s fossil-based ore steel.
The process generates small CO2 emissions due to the consumption of graphite electrodes and the addition of slag formers in the electric arc furnace. These emissions are less than 0.05 tons of CO2e/ton of steel, which is rounded to 0.0 tons of CO2e/ton of steel. The typical value for ore-based steel production using blast furnace technology is 2.2 tons of CO2e/ton of steel.
