Green Steel
Hydrogen instead of coke: Stegra in Sweden is building the first industrial-scale plant - start slips to 2027.
Open in the interactive tree →Steel causes roughly 7-9% of global CO2 emissions; blast furnaces need coke to strip oxygen from the ore. In the hydrogen process (direct reduction, then an electric arc furnace) water is produced instead of CO2. The pioneer was HYBRIT (SSAB, LKAB, Vattenfall), which delivered the first fossil-free steel to Volvo in 2021.
As of October 2026
Stegra's plant in Boden (northern Sweden; target 2.5 Mt per year, 700-MW electrolysis) closed a 1.4 billion euro financing in June 2026 and expects steel production to start in early 2027 after repeated delays. On 30 September 2026 the board replaced CEO Henrik Henriksson with Håkan Buskhe (from 1 November) and said that at least SEK 10 billion of additional funding is needed. Salzgitter's first SALCOS stage (direct reduction plus electric arc furnace) is under construction for 2027, while its later stages are postponed by about three years.
Open steps
- Direct reduction with ordinary ore Medium AI leverageMake hydrogen direct reduction work with lower-grade ore and blast-furnace-grade pellets, because direct-reduction pellets are scarce.
- Scrap quality for electric arc furnaces Medium AI leverageDetect and sort copper and tin in scrap, or remove them from the melt, so recycled steel can reach high-grade qualities.
- Plant control on variable power Medium AI leverageRun electrolyser, shaft furnace and arc furnace together on fluctuating wind power and hydrogen supply while holding steel quality.
- Direct electrolysis of iron ore Medium AI leverageTake molten-oxide or low-temperature iron-ore electrolysis beyond pilot scale to skip hydrogen and furnace steps.
Where AI could help
Low AI leverage. Financing, cheap green power and hydrogen supply decide start dates; AI trims process control and scrap handling at the margin.
- Optimize direct-reduction and arc-furnace control for energy and yield
- Sort and grade scrap for electric furnaces
- Schedule electrolyser and plant operation around power prices
Prerequisites
- Bessemer Steel1856
- Electrification1882Hydrogen-based green steel melts direct-reduced iron in electric arc furnaces on grid power
- Electric Arc Furnace1900Green steel melts hydrogen-reduced iron and scrap in electric arc furnaces
- Solar Boom & Price Collapse2015–2026
Unlocks
Sources
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