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ENVIRONMENT

Court gives Swedish start-up go ahead for fossil-free steel plant

A court in Sweden has given the steel company H2 Green Steel the go ahead to start building a coal-free steel plant in northern Sweden, the first greenfield steel plant in Europe in 50 years.

Published: 1 July 2022 10:30 CEST
Court gives Swedish start-up go ahead for fossil-free steel plant
A rendering of how the plant in Boden, northern Sweden, might look when it is complete. Photo: H2 Green Steel

Sweden’s environmental court, or Mark- och miljödomstolen, gave the company permission to start building, so long as it puts in place measures to protect the local environment and nearby communities, and also compensates for any damage done. 

“It is unavoidable that establishing such a large steel work will impact on the natural environment and that species in the local area will be affected,” the judge Katarina Brodin said in a press statement. “Such a large business is also going to impact on those living near the steel plant, both while it is being built and when it is in operation. 

But she the court ruled that the urgent need to cut carbon emissions from global steel production meant the benefits outweighed the possible impact on the local environment. 

“The Court states…that the manufacturing process entails large carbon dioxide emissions and that it is important to take measures as soon as possible to reduce these emissions globally,” it ruled. “The company’s intention to build and operate a facility for fossil-free steel production is in line with this endeavour.” 

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The company, which is headed by Henrik Henriksson, the former chief executive of the truck-maker Scania, aims to start production at the start of 2025, making it the first industrial scale hydrogen steel plant in the world.  

The plant will be built in Svartbyn, just outside the city of Boden in Norrbotten, Sweden’s most northerly county. 

The company has applied to build a plant which can produce 4.2m tonnes of hydrogen-reduced sponge iron a year, along with a hydrogen production facility which can produce 280,000 tonnes of the gas. 

The court also gave the company permission to divert and damm the Lillbäcken river, and has given it a dispensation from some requirements to protect animal and plant species.

The decision only gives the company permission to start construction at the plant. The court will now consider the company’s application to operate the plant. 

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MOVING TO SWEDEN

Here’s why Umeå was just ranked the best place to live in Sweden

Situated seven hours north of Stockholm, Umeå may not be the most famous municipality beyond the borders of Sweden – but there's more to this northern city than meets the eye.

Published: 28 June 2024 10:35 CEST
Here's why Umeå was just ranked the best place to live in Sweden

Umeå is in fact the best place to live in Sweden, according to a new ranking by the magazine Fokus. 

The research was carried out by Infostat on behalf of Fokus and looked at factors such as household economy, safety, jobs, education, childcare, healthcare, infrastructure, services, leisure and public economy.

“This is of course great. All of northern Sweden and not least Umeå is on fire right now and offers residents extremely good opportunities to live good lives,” Umeå mayor Hans Lindberg said in a press statement.

Lindberg highlighted the fact that the city has low unemployment, good proximity to nature and good transport links. It was also ranked highly when it came to feelings of safety, has a low gun violence rate, low ethnic segregation and good police presence.

It’s also the largest city in Sweden with no so-called vulnerable areas.

While much of the rest of Norrland is predominantly industrial, Umeå has two universities, so the city benefits from a young population and a thriving cultural scene. Many people outside Sweden may not have heard of it, but it does have one claim to fame internationally: Stig Larsson, the author of the Millennium crime trilogy, grew up in Umeå and wrote some of his earliest work in the city.

And having a university appears to be a common theme in the top three, where Umeå was joined by Luleå, also in Norrland, and Karlstad, on the shores of Lake Vänern.

The study also looked at how different cities fare among varying groups of people who may not want the same things. The best municipalities for people in their twenties, for example, were Solna, Stockholm and Luleå, while families with young children had the same top three as the study as a whole, but in a different order, with Luleå first, followed by Karlstad, followed by Umeå.

Pensioners preferred Örnsköldsvik, also in Norrland, followed by Umeå and Solna.

The worst municipalities overall were Tanum, Älvdalen and Vansbro.

Here’s the top ten:

1. Umeå

2. Luleå

3. Karlstad

4. Lidingö

5. Mölndal

6. Täby

7. Örnsköldsvik

8. Östersund

9. Nacka

10. Lund

And the bottom ten:

281. Heby

282. Gnesta

283. Östhammar

284. Valdemarsvik

285. Flen

286. Vingåker

287. Gagnef

288. Vansbro

289. Älvdalen

290. Tanum

Do you live in Umeå? Do you agree it’s the best place to live in Sweden? Let us know in the comments what you like about it.

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