SSAB will receive $33 million in financing for electrification of finishing slabs in Luleå
The Swedish Energy Agency has allocated 314 million Swedish kronor ($33.3 million) to SSAB as financing under the Industrial Leap program for the modernization of the electric arc furnace at the Luleå plant, Kallanisch notes.
SSAB is investing 4.5 billion euros ($5.2 billion) to shift away from blast furnace steel production and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 90% in Lulea (see Kallanish passim).
Industrial Leap's funding extends to a project aimed at developing technical solutions for electrification and energy efficiency improvement of steel plate finishing processes in Lulea, which are currently being carried out using natural gas and propane.
"It is encouraging that the Swedish Energy Agency supports our transition period. The industrial leap is an important tool for stimulating technological development and reducing the impact of industry on the climate," says Carl Orrling, Vice President, Head of Technology and Transition, SSAB.
The project makes it possible to reduce CO2-equivalent emissions by about 169,000 tons per year in the future, as well as save about 555 GWh of energy. It includes detailed design of processes, connection to power grids, control systems and infrastructure and will last from May 2025 to June 2026.
"In addition to the climate benefits, investments in Luleå strengthen SSAB's competitiveness by reducing fixed costs, reducing lead times, and increasing production flexibility," the steel manufacturer notes.
The new mill will have a capacity of 2.5 million tons per year and will include EDP, advanced secondary metallurgy technologies, a hot rolling complex and a cold rolling complex with galvanizing and annealing. Construction began in the summer, but commissioning was postponed for 12 months, until the end of 2029, as it was not possible to ensure the supply of electricity to the transmission network in accordance with the plan.
Earlier, SSAB received a grant of SEK 1.45 billion from the Just Transition Foundation and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Development to replace the blast furnace with an EDP at the continuous casting stage. The new project focuses on the final stages such as hot rolling, cold rolling and galvanizing, parts of the process that have not previously received government funding.
Meanwhile, at the SSAB plant in Oxelesund, the commissioning of the EDP is now expected in early 2027, after its connection to the power line was postponed to the end of 2026.
SSAB's operating result in the third quarter was SEK 1.869 billion ($198 million), which is SEK 621 million more than last year, mainly due to the active