Google has joined the Sustainable Steel Buyers Platform (SSBP), a coalition of various corporations organized by US-based energy and sustainability non-profit organization RMI.
SSBP includes major tech firms Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon as members. Including Google, the platform now has eight major backers.
The SSBP intends to bring together ambitious corporations in sectors with high steel usage, such as technology, construction, and manufacturing, and facilitate low-emission steel procurement in North America.
Dubbed as a “first of its kind” group, SSBP was launched with support from several partners with expertise in the sector, such as the First Mover Coalition, Climate Group, and Responsible Steel.
The platform launched a request-for-information in Q3 2023 to seek input from steel producers on timelines, technology, and emissions thresholds for near-zero steel, as well as preference for structuring a potential green premium over a diverse range of steel products.
Following this, a request for proposals (RFP) was launched to give buyers a direct way to secure new supply, align demand with detailed specifications, and address key challenges in emissions measurement, verification, and reporting.
Open to all iron and steel producers and their supply chain partners, the RFP sought suppliers capable of delivering 1 to 2 million tons of near-zero emissions steel to North America by 2030. Proposals had to meet strict emissions thresholds at the product level and ensure transparent lifecycle emissions data to validate claims.
The RFP is now closed. Following its close, buyers are now able to negotiate individual offtake agreements based on the jointly determined green premium and other terms, such as steel specifications and pricing.
Steel is a crucial material in the construction of data centers. In addition to its traditional role in the foundations and shell of the building, it is also used in the racking, service enclosures, cooling systems, piping, and power generation equipment.
AWS has already committed to the use of green steel following a partnership with SSAB in November of last year. The deal will see AWS pilot the use of green steel in one of its three new data centers in Sweden.
The green steel will be used to construct the roof and wall structures at the AWS Västerås data center. SSAB subsidiary Ruukki Construction will supply the steel for the data center.
