The green steel factory will bring 1,200 jobs to Southern Finland | News
Norway’s Blastr has announced plans to build a factory in Inkoo that will use renewable energy for steel production.
Norwegian company Blastr has announced plans to establish a green steel mill with an integrated hydrogen production facility in Inkoo.
Blastr signed a letter of intent with the Finnish energy company Fortum, which gives Inko the exclusive right to exploit an existing industrial area located on the southern coast of Finland.
Decarbonized steel, also known as “green steel”, uses local and renewable energy as the basis for heating, reduction and smelting instead of fossil fuels. The factory planned for Inkoo will produce two and a half million tons of high-quality hot and cold-rolled green steel annually.
The investment value of the project is approximately four billion euros and it will employ approximately 1,200 people upon completion, which is one of the largest single industrial investments in the history of Finland.
According to the CEO of Blastr Green Steel Hans Fredrik WittusenInkoo was chosen as the plant’s location because of the existing infrastructure, deep harbor, access to nearby European markets, and electricity from emission-free sources.
Production is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2026.
Inkoo was last in the headlines when Finland’s first floating terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) arrived at the port at the end of December.
Attracting green investments
Minister of Economy of Finland Mika Lintilä (Cen) stated in the press release that Blastr’s decision to locate a new factory in Inko is an indication of the competitiveness of Finnish industry and infrastructure.
He described Finland as an excellent place for carbon-neutral industry and carbon dioxide-free steel production, because the Nordic countries have a strong and reliable electricity grid, good conditions for producing emission-free energy and efficient logistics.
Risto MurroPension company Varma’s CEO told Yle on Tuesday that the news about Blastr’s planned steel plant shows that Finland is an attractive country for green investments.
“Finland is now clearly making a lot of investments in heavy industry,” Murto said, adding that Finland has also managed to attract other energy investments, such as wind power, and industrial projects are increasingly attracted by the availability of renewable energy sources. .
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