H2 Green Steel has raised ‘about €1.5 billion’ in equity funding to fund the build of the world’s first large-scale green steel plant and Europe’s first giga-scale electrolyser.
The plant is being built in Boden, Sweden and will deliver steel with ‘up to 95 percent less CO2 emissions compared to steel produced with traditional blast furnace technology’. The plant will be hydrogen-powered rather than using coal - this is where the giga-scale electrolyser kicks in, it will produce hydrogen using electricity from renewable resources. Ground was broken on the site in summer 2022, the fresh capital will allow the project to move on from the groundworks stage.
Thought to be the largest private placement in Europe this year, it was co-led by new investor Hy24, together with existing investors Altor, GIC and Just Climate. Also included in the line-up is new investors Andra AP - fonden and Temasek and existing investor AMF, Cristina Stenbeck, Hitachi Energy, IMAS Foundation, Kinnevik, Schaeffler, Vargas and Wallenberg Investments holding company FAM.
To date H2 Green Steel has been heavily financed by equity funding, raising €1.8 billion over three rounds. Previous rounds include a Series A €86 million round in May 2021 and a €260 million Series B1 in October 2022. In debt funding the firm has had access to over €3.5 billion and says it has renewed commitment letters in July 2023.
“The calibre of investors that are backing us is impressive. Some of the most professional institutions, investors and industrial companies globally are part of this round and we are proud that they all share our commitment to sustainability as their true north. €1.5 billion is the largest private placement in Europe this year and the appetite to invest in us proves both our solid business case and the market demand for green steel," says Henrik Henriksson, CEO of H2 Green Steel.
“This marks the start of industrial-scale decarbonisation of basic materials production. The sector will require substantial investments over the coming decades to enable our customers to produce green end products and, thereby meet their climate targets. We hope this financing will contribute towards accelerating the much needed, broad participation of capital markets in the transformation of hard-to-abate industries," says Otto Gernandt, CFO of H2 Green Steel.
Lead image: H2 Green Steel
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