Stockholm (AFP) – Police said Thursday that 19 people they caught working illegally during a raid at the Swedish start-up Stegra’s steel mill would be deported. The announcement came a day after officials from several government agencies carried out a surprise inspection of the company’s massive construction site in northern Sweden. The site, at Boden, has a workforce of about 3,000 people. Police said they had conducted over 100 immigration checks during the raid, finding 19 people who did not have the right to work and reside in Sweden.
“We will continue to work to enforce deportations,” border police officer Joakim Lundgren said in a statement. Sweden’s Work Environment Authority said that it had ordered 16 out of the 17 companies it had checked at the site “to remedy shortcomings in their work environment.” Stegra is building a new steel mill intended to produce steel using technology the company says gives off 95 percent fewer CO2 emissions than traditional methods.
When it first announced plans for a new plant in 2021, the company was called H2 Green Steel. It had an ambitious target of starting production in 2024, and aimed for an annual output of five million tonnes of steel — more than all of Sweden’s current annual output — by 2030. However, the work has been hit by delays and has still not begun production. The company lowered its initial production targets and its finances have recently come under scrutiny.
In October, Stegra announced another round of financing to bring in an additional 10 billion kronor ($1 billion) to cover higher project costs. Observers have started making comparisons to another former leader of Sweden’s green industrial boom, battery maker Northvolt. Northvolt was seen as a cornerstone in European efforts to catch up with Chinese battery producers before production delays and a debt mountain led it to declare bankruptcy in March.
Behind Stegra is investment firm Vargas Holding, which was also a co-founder of battery maker Northvolt.
© 2024 AFP
