Our hydrogen plant in Luleå reached full output on Monday. The 740 MW electrolyser now makes enough hydrogen to reduce iron ore for 2.5 million tonnes of steel a year, without coal.

The plant runs on fossil-free electricity from our own wind farms and the Lule river. It replaces the last blast furnace at the site, which will close in 2027. Once it does, the steelworks in Luleå will cut Sweden's total carbon emissions by around three per cent.

How it works

Water is split into hydrogen and oxygen in 96 electrolyser stacks. The hydrogen is stored in a lined rock cavern 30 metres below the site, which holds enough for four days of production. That buffer lets the plant buy electricity when it is cheapest and keep running when the wind drops.

From the cavern, the hydrogen goes to the direct reduction shaft, where it strips the oxygen from iron ore pellets. What comes out is sponge iron, which is melted with recycled scrap in an electric arc furnace. The only by-product of the reduction step is water vapour.

Three years from start to full output

Construction began in spring 2023. The first stacks were started in January, and output was raised in steps over the summer while the team tuned pressure, temperature and power use. The plant is now running at its design capacity of 100,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year.

The project cost SEK 18 billion and was part funded by the EU Innovation Fund. It was delivered two months ahead of plan and within budget.

What happens next

The site will host 300 new jobs over the next two years, most of them for process operators and electricians. Applications open in November, and our training centre in Luleå will run its first hydrogen safety course in January.

A second electrolyser, for the Oxelösund site, is in the design phase. Construction is planned to start in spring 2027.