Swedish steel company SSAB announced that it has received SEK 314 million ($33.24 million) in funding from Sweden's Industrial Leap program, managed by the Swedish Energy Agency, to promote electrification and energy efficiency at its new fossil-free steel plant in Luleå.
The funding supports SSAB's wider investment of € 4.5 billion to build a fully integrated, near-zero emission steel plant with a production capacity of 2.5 million tons, replacing traditional blast furnace technology with electric arc furnaces (EAFs). This transformation is expected to reduce the company's carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 90 percent, equivalent to seven percent of Sweden's total national emissions.
Industrial Leap program enables electrification of finishing processes
The Industrial Leap grant targets a subproject targeting the final stages of steel slab production, which still rely on natural gas and propane. The project will result in a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of approximately 169,000 tons per year and energy savings of approximately 555 GWh per year. The project implementation timeline is from May 2025 to June 2026, including detailed engineering, grid connection, automation and infrastructure design.
SSAB noted that in addition to environmental benefits, the investment will provide lower fixed costs, shorter production lead times and greater operational flexibility, strengthening competitiveness in global green steel
