H2 Green Steel, a Swedish start-up backed by the Agnelli, Wallenberg, and Maersk families, is planning to raise more than €1.5bn of equity funding to further develop its fossil fuel-free steel manufacturing process. The company aims to produce 5 million tonnes of steel per year by 2030, which would make it one of Europe’s largest steel producers. H2 Green Steel’s manufacturing process uses hydrogen instead of coal or coke to remove oxygen from iron ore, resulting in water as the only byproduct.
The company plans to use renewable energy to produce the hydrogen, making its steel production process carbon-neutral1. Societe Generale was the financial adviser on the €2.5bn H2 Green Steel project in Sweden, the first large-scale steel producer based on a fossil fuel-free manufacturing process. The bank also structured the €1.5bn clean hydrogen infrastructure fund, which is the first equity fund for hydrogen industry development. Societe Generale worked on the €97.3m IPO for Hydrogen Refueling Solutions, the largest IPO ever on Euronext Growth Paris. The bank is committed to contributing €120bn of financing for energy transition projects by 2023.
H2 Green Steel investors:
H2 Green Steel is a Swedish green impact company that aims to accelerate the decarbonization of steel production in northern Sweden. The company provides a fully integrated, digitalized, and automated greenfield steel plant by bringing together raw materials, renewable energy, and digital technologies. H2 Green Steel has secured a total of €260 million in series B equity financing from a selected group of investors. The equity round was co-led by new investors AMF, GIC, and Schaeffler, alongside existing investor Altor Fund V.
Other investors include Hitachi Energy, Kobe Steel, Kinnevik, BNP Paribas, ING, UniCredit, Societe Generale Asset Management, KfW IPEX-Bank, Swedish Export Credit Corporation, European Investment Bank, and Just Climate. H2 Green Steel has pre-sold about 60 percent of its initial volumes, showcasing the demand for decarbonized steel. Customers represent a broad range of sectors including steel service centers, pipe and tube, passenger vehicles and heavy commercial vehicles, white goods, and construction products. The company plans to produce steel through a green hydrogen-powered plant in Boden in Northern Sweden. The fully integrated, digitalized, and circular plant is expected to reduce 95% of CO₂ emissions compared to traditional steelmaking. The plant is scheduled to start production as early as 2025.
