Mårten Görnerup has been appointed CEO of Hybrit Development AB, a newly established joint venture company described by Görnerup himself as an exciting, forward-looking company.
Swedish steelmaker SSAB, minerals company LKAB and electricity generator Vattenfall formed Hybrit in spring 2016. A joint venture company was formed a year later with the goal of developing a steelmaking process that emits water rather than carbon dioxide by replacing the current blast furnace process using coal and coke with a process based on hydrogen gas.
Hybrit’s chairman, Martin Pei, said that Görnerup ‘brings precisely the expertise that this initiative needs’.
Görnerup was previously CEO of Metsol, a technical consultancy firm active in the steel sector.
Since the spring of 2017 the Hybrit board has comprised Martin Pei, chairman, Åsa Sundqvist, board member, Andreas Regnell, board member and Olle Wijk, co-opted board member.
The Hybrit initiative has received several rounds of support from the Swedish Energy Agency, including funding towards a four-year research project.
The initiative is divided into three phases: a feasibility study that will run until the end of 2017, followed by research and pilot plant trials up to 2024. The final step, up to 2035, involves carrying out trials in a full-scale demonstration facility.
According to SSAB, Sweden is uniquely qualified to undertake such an initiative. It has a specialized and innovative steel industry, access to climate-smart and renewable electrical power, and the best-quality iron ore in Europe.
However, significant national contributions are still required from the state, research institutions, and universities.