Google announced on September 17, 2026, that it will purchase environmental attribute certificates linked to up to 91,000 metric tons of steel from Stegra’s first production year at its planned Boden plant in Sweden. The deal is for the environmental value attached to the steel—not a required shipment of physical metal to Google.
Google is buying the environmental value, not a steel shipment
An environmental attribute certificate, or EAC, represents a product’s environmental attributes separately from the product itself. Stegra says one EAC represents the green value of one tonne of near-zero-emission steel produced at Boden.
That distinction matters here. Google’s agreement covers the certificates, while the physical steel associated with them can move through conventional markets. Stegra says those volumes are non-prime steel produced through the same lower-emission process, and the physical material can be sold without the corresponding green claim.
The transaction therefore connects Google’s demand for lower-carbon construction materials with a steel plant that has not yet reached its planned operating stage. The certificate can travel farther than the steel, which is the entire point of the model.
How Stegra’s book-and-claim model works
Stegra describes the arrangement as a certified book-and-claim chain of custody:
- Steel is planned for production at the Boden facility using renewable electricity and green hydrogen.
- The environmental value associated with the steel is separated from the physical product.
- The physical steel can be delivered through established markets.
- EACs are issued for the corresponding volume and transferred to a separate buyer such as Google.
Stegra says the certificates are tracked from issuance through final use, with transactions and calculations subject to external auditing. Its model also assigns the green claim to the certificate holder rather than allowing both the physical buyer and certificate buyer to claim the same environmental attribute.
The hydrogen-based process behind the certificates
Stegra’s planned production route replaces coal’s role in reducing iron ore with hydrogen produced through electrolysis. Renewable electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen; the hydrogen then reduces iron ore before the resulting iron is melted in a renewable-energy-powered electric arc furnace. Casting, rolling, cooling, pickling and galvanizing follow downstream.
The Boden project is planned around a 740 MW electrolyzer. Google says Stegra’s process could reduce production emissions by up to 95% compared with traditional blast-furnace manufacturing. That figure is a company estimate tied to the production route, not a measurement of Google’s data-center emissions.
Why Google connects the deal to data centers
Google says lower-carbon materials could reduce the embodied carbon of data-center infrastructure by up to 40%. Embodied carbon covers emissions associated with producing and building with materials, rather than electricity consumed while a facility operates.
The company also says it used low-carbon concrete, steel, or both in more than 20 construction projects during 2025. Stegra’s certificates give Google a way to claim the environmental value associated with planned lower-emission steel production even when the physical material is sold through another supply chain.
Boden’s production milestone is still ahead
Stegra’s Boden plant is expected to begin operations by 2027. Its planned long-term output is five million tons of steel annually, while Google’s agreement covers up to 91,000 metric tons from the first production year.
That makes the Google deal an early commitment to the plant’s intended production model: the certificates are tied to future steel output, while the physical steel and the associated environmental claims follow separate paths.
