COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Swedish green steel company Stegra is seeking to raise additional cash to complete its flagship investment in northern Sweden, business daily Dagens Industri reported on Thursday.
A company spokesperson told Reuters Stegra was considering options including public funding, equity and debt.
Stegra, formerly H2 Green Steel, secured 6.5 billion euros ($7.61 billion) in funding in January 2024 for its flagship green steel plant in Boden, northern Sweden, which uses hydrogen produced from renewable electricity.
Sweden has led Europe’s efforts to shift from fossil-fuel based industries to non-polluting energy, driven by cheap, carbon-free electricity, but its green transition also faces headwinds, such as the bankruptcy of battery maker Northvolt.
Green hydrogen developers are cancelling projects and trimming investments around the world, raising the prospect of longer than targeted reliance on fossil fuels.
Hard-to-electrify industries that were seen as ideal candidates for green hydrogen, such as steelmaking and long-distance transportation, have found that transition to the low-carbon fuel looks prohibitively expensive.
($1 = 0.8542 euros)
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
