Norwegian Startup Blastr Plans €4-billion Green Steel Plant in Finland

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Norwegian startup Blastr Green Steel is planning to establish a green steel plant with an integrated hydrogen production facility in Inkoo, Finland. Blastr has entered into a Letter of Intent with Nordic energy company Fortum that provides Blastr exclusive rights to utilize the existing industrial site located in Joddböle, Inkoo in Finland, 55 km west of Helsinki.

Fortum has developed the Joddböle area since the dismantling of its Inkoo coal-fired power plant there in 2017-2020. (The controlled implosion of the last chimney at the plant was on 24 March 2020.) The area has excellent conditions for industrial activities: a deep-water harbor and an excellent electricity transmission network.

The €4-billion investment is expected to create up to 1,200 direct jobs in the operations phase. The production is planned to start by end of 2026. Blastr’s project—the green steel plant together with the integrated hydrogen facility—will be among the largest industrial investments in Finland.

Green steel will be a critical raw material for developing renewable energy infrastructure, such as wind turbines, as well as in segments such as construction, the automotive industry, and consumer goods. In Europe alone, the demand for decarbonized steel is expected to reach 50 million tons by 2030—nearly one-third of the current European steel demand.

The steel industry produces about eight percent of the world’s CO₂ emissions due to the high amount of fossil fuels used to manufacture steel through conventional methods. Currently, one ton of steel produced creates about 1.9 tonnes of CO₂. Blastr will replace coke and coal with hydrogen in the chemical reduction phase, as well as reduce the CO₂ footprint along the entire value chain, with the aim of achieving 95% lower CO₂ emissions, compared to the conventional manufacturing process.

The steel plant is planned to produce 2.5 million tons of high-quality hot and cold-rolled green steel annually.

 Courtesy: www.greencarcongress.com