SSAB receives €28.8 million in funding for project in Luleå

The funds are intended for the development of technical solutions for the electrification of slab processing

Swedish steel company SSAB has received SEK 314 million (€28.8 million) in funding from the Swedish Energy Agency as part of the Industriklivet program to retool its plant in Luleå. This was announced in a statement by the steel manufacturer.

As previously announced, SSAB is investing €4.5 billion in a new electrified and integrated steel mill in Luleå with a capacity of 2.5 million tons per year. It will include two electric arc furnaces, advanced secondary metallurgy, an integrated hot rolling mill, and a cold rolling mill with galvanizing and annealing.

The support from Industriklivet, provided as part of this investment, relates to a project to develop technical solutions for the electrification and energy efficiency of the slab finishing processes at the plant – processes that currently use gas and LPG.

The project will enable future emissions reductions equivalent to approximately 169,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year and energy savings of approximately 555 GWh. It includes detailed process design, grid connection, control systems, and infrastructure, and will run from May 2025 to June 2026.

“In addition to the climate benefits, the investment in Luleå strengthens SSAB’s competitiveness through lower fixed costs, shorter lead times, and increased production flexibility,” the company said.

SSAB previously received SEK 1.45 billion through the Just Transition Fund and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth to replace its blast furnace with an electric arc furnace up to the continuous casting stage. The new project focuses on the final stages, such as hot rolling, cold rolling, and galvanizing, parts of the process that previously did not receive government funding.

As a reminder, SSAB has postponed the launch of the electric arc furnace at its steel mill in Oxelösund until early 2027. The company had originally planned to complete the modernization and start steel production by the end of 2026, but the schedule has been pushed back due to delays in the implementation of the energy infrastructure.