On April 1, the EU Innovation Fund officially signed a grant agreement with Swedish Steel Corporation (SSAB), Sweden's Vattenfall Corporation and Sweden's LKAB Mining Corporation for the hydrogen-based direct reduced iron project HYBRIT in Stockholm, Sweden.
Under the agreement, the HYBRIT project will receive a total of 143 million euros (about 155 million U.S. dollars) of financial support to build a complete industrial and commercial-scale hydrogen-based steel manufacturing value chain from mining to green steel sales.
It is reported that the HYBRIT project has been officially recognized by the European Union as one of the seven innovation projects funded by the Innovation Fund, and it is also the project that has been confirmed to be funded. The EU is currently funding more than 1.1 billion euros in seven projects to accelerate the decarbonisation of European industry and energy sectors.
The Executive Vice-President of the European Commission said: "The HYBRIT project is paving the way for ground-breaking changes in the global steel industry. The project shows how fast the steel industry is undergoing a green transition, which a few years ago would have sounded like science fiction. The plot of the novel; today, green steel is entering the market. The financial support provided by the EU Innovation Fund demonstrates the importance and potential of the HYBRIT project, which the European Commission believes will enhance the overall competitiveness of the EU."
The launch of the HYBRIT project is an important step for the EU steel industry to achieve fossil-free steelmaking and a key step in achieving its climate goals. The EU Innovation Fund supports the project because of its potential to help the steel industry achieve a green transition and its ability to meet the challenges of climate change.
