SSAB and Fortum explore possibilities for the production of hydrogen-reduced sponge iron in Raahe

SSAB and Fortum are launching a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study to explore the possibilities of making hydrogen-reduced sponge iron in SSAB’s Raahe steel plant. Raahe, established in 1960, is a 2.6 million tonnes per annum blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steel plant operating in Raahe, Finland; its main products are hot-rolled plate and strip.

Raahe steelworks

SSAB Fossil-free steel is produced using HYBRIT technology, which replaces coal in the iron ore reduction process with hydrogen. (Earlier post.)
The FEED study will explore the possibilities of making fossil-free sponge iron at an industrial-scale in Raahe and of building a hydrogen production plant. The study is scheduled to complete in the first quarter of 2024.

The initiative is a natural continuation to an ongoing joint research project FFS – Towards Fossil-free Steel, which began in February 2021 and is supported by Business Finland.

In January 2022, SSAB’s Board of Directors made a policy decision to transform Nordic strip production and to make it largely carbon dioxide-free in around 2030. During 2022, SSAB made and delivered 500 tonnes of fossil-free steel.

March 2023 saw another important step when SSAB introduced SSAB Zero, a carbon dioxide-free steel based on recycled scrap and made using fossil-free energy. When SSAB converts the Oxelösund mill, it will be able to use a flexible mix of fossil-free sponge iron and scrap as the raw material to produce steel without carbon dioxide emissions, starting in the fourth quarter of 2026.

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