Facing a cash crunch of more than $1 billion, Europe’s flagship green-steel project began publicly seeking a financial lifeline earlier this month. This week, the French hydrogen investor Hy24 swooped in to help fund Stegra, the Swedish firm behind the effort.
Construction is 60% complete on the facility, which is located in northern Sweden just below the Arctic Circle. If finished, the plant would be the world’s first large-scale steel mill fueled by clean hydrogen, giving Europe a leg up on both the United States and China in an emerging low-carbon technology.
“There is no reason to question the project, whose fundamentals are very good,” Pierre-Etienne Franc, co-founder and CEO of Hy24, told Bloomberg. “If anything, demand for green steel has risen since its launch.”
Franc did not disclose how much money Hy24 invested in Stegra (formerly known as H2 Green Steel), and neither company responded to Canary Media’s multiple emails requesting comment.
In a press release announcing the start of the new fundraising round on October 13, Stegra CEO Henrik Henriksson said that the investments the company was seeking would represent “approximately 15%” of overall project funding, “comprising a mix of new equity, debt, outsourcing, and selected strategic partnerships.”
“Stegra has a unique position in the green steel landscape with a strong order book, a competitive cost position, and proven execution capabilities,” Henriksson said.
A previous investor from Stegra’s 2023 financing round had also stepped up before Hy24 made its announcement. Just Climate, the British low-carbon venture fund linked to former Vice President Al Gore’s investment company, told the Swedish broadcaster SVT earlier this month that it planned to increase its stake in Stegra.
But Hy24 is the first new investor to come forward since the latest fundraising began. The investment firm represents “one of the most advanced funding bases for hydrogen in the world,” said Rinaldo Brutoco, the founder of the World Business Academy think tank and a hydrogen investor who has advised European governments on the hydrogen industry.
“They’re the best thing in the hydrogen space in France,” he said. “They invest at the level of ‘let’s build a full-scale plant’ and they operate at the level of ‘let’s build entire industries.’”
That Hy24 is funding Stegra, he said, is a sign the firm is “confident it’s a safe investment.”
“Will Stegra be successful? Absolutely,” Brutoco said. “Have they run into cost overruns? Sure, what new technology hasn’t? But it’s a minor hiccup.”
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