- 4 tammikuun, 2023
Norjan Blastr suunnittelee 4 miljardin euron Green Steel -tehtaan Suomeen
(Bloomberg) — Norway’s Blastr Green Steel is planning a 4 billion euro ($4.3 billion) investment to build a low-carbon steel plant in Finland, which could be one of the biggest industrial projects in the Nordics.
Blastr signed a letter of intent with Fortum Oyj for the planned location, the industrial area of Inkoo on the country’s south coast, according to Business Finland’s Tuesday release. The facility includes integrated hydrogen production and employs up to 1,200 employees.
Steelmaking is one of the world’s most polluting industries, with huge blast furnaces that heat iron ore with coking coal. A cleaner way is to use hydrogen produced with renewable energy. Several companies, including Sweden’s SSAB AB and Finland’s Outokumpu Oyj, are researching green steel technologies, although they are not yet being produced on an industrial scale.
The Blastr factory will produce 2.5 million tons of hot and cold rolled green steel per year starting in 2026. The company chose Finland as its factory partly because of the abundance of wind power, says CEO Hans Fredrik Wittusen. Although Blastr has not yet received funding for the project, it is planning debt and funds from the capital market, the CEO told Helsingin Sanomat. According to the newspaper, the final investment decision will be at the beginning of 2025.
Blastr is backed by Vanir Green Industries, founded by Tore Ivar Slettemoen, who is also one of the founders of Freyr Battery AS. The company’s goal is to produce green battery cells to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in energy and transportation systems.