Luleå November 29, 2024
The latest issue of North Sweden Business reports that Swe-Cham Patron Member SSAB has entered into a cooperation agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to supply fossil-free steel. In the collaboration, SSAB will deliver fossil-free steel made with the Hybrit technology developed in a pilot plant in Luleå. The steel will be used in one of three new data centres that AWS is building in Mälardalen in Sweden. SSAB’s Finnish subsidiary Ruukki will supply roof and wall structures for the buildings.
AWS is building three new data centres in Sweden. Two of them will use recycled steel, which is produced with lower carbon emissions than blast furnace steel. The third hall will use steel from SSAB and Ruukki.
“We are happy to welcome AWS as a new partner. By choosing steel made with HYBRIT technology, AWS shows that it is possible to reduce the carbon footprint regardless of whether the steel is made from recycled material or iron ore,” says Thomas Hörnfeldt, Head of Sustainable Business at SSAB.
The HYBRIT technology has been developed by SSAB together with state-owned mining company LKAB and state-owned energy company Vattenfall to replace blast furnace-based steel production. Instead of coking coal, HYBRIT technology uses hydrogen, produced with fossil-free electricity, to make sponge iron, which is then further refined into steel. The process emits water vapour instead of carbon dioxide and virtually eliminates carbon emissions from steel production.
The steel is manufactured by SSAB and will be used in Ruukki’s sandwich panels to cover part of the façade of the new AWS computer centre in Västerås.
“Reducing embedded carbon emissions from the construction of our data centres is a top priority for AWS, given the drive to achieve net zero carbon emissions across our operations by 2040,” said Kellen O’Connor, Managing Director Europe North, AWS.
Illustration of one of AWS’ new data centres in Sweden. Credit: AWS
