The start-up raised 1.5 billion euros this week to build its steelworks. The factory is due to open in 2025 but reducing emissions from the steel industry is a challenge that promises to be difficult to meet.
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Can Europe produce less polluting steel? The steel sector represents between 7 and 9% of carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming.
A Swedish start-up promises to be the first to produce steel with a new factory that would run entirely on renewable energy. Its name: H2 Green Steel. Green Steel for “green steel”, presented as less polluting, and H2 for hydrogen. Because the factory, which must begin producing steel in a little over two years, promises to no longer use coal or gas, but therefore hydrogen, itself produced from electricity. This electricity will come from hydroelectric dams. Inexpensive energy in the north of Sweden where the factory will be located, in the middle of the forest, in Lapland.
This is the first time in almost half a century that a new steelworks has been built in the European Union.
Other similar projects are underway, particularly in France and Portugal. One of them is carried by the steel giant Arcelor Mittal, and will have to rely largely on electricity from nuclear power. But producing hydrogen requires gigantic quantities of electricity. This costs more, and in the midst of the energy transition, there will probably not be enough renewable electricity available for everyone in the short and medium term.