On 5th September 2023, we welcomed Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish Prime Minister, to Ovako to inaugurate our new hydrogen plant, alongside our CEO, Marcus Hedblom, and Japan’s Ambassador to Sweden, Masaki Noke. Representatives from project partners Volvo Group, Hitachi Energy, H2 Green Steel and Nel Hydrogen also attended.
During his opening speech, Kristersson observed that "Sweden is now the hub of the fossil-free revolution in steel making. What Ovako is accomplishing here today is a crucial step – this is green transition in action, not just words."
The plant is now in operation, producing fossil-free hydrogen to fuel our steel heating furnaces and reduce the emissions from our rolling mill to almost zero. As well as being the first electrolysis plant in the world at a steelworks, it’s also Sweden’s largest electrolysis plant, being rated at 20 MW and able to generate 3,880 cubic meters of hydrogen per hour.
It is an investment that was made possible with the support of the Swedish Energy Agency, Energimyndigheten, under the Industrial Leap initiative, as well as the European Union.