What Tata Steel has said about building an electric arc furnace in Port Talbot
Traditional iron and steelmaking has come to an end in Port Talbot, with the closure of the heavy end assets including the final blast furnace, the sinter plant and the steel plant.
Tata Steel who operate the steelworkers confirmed the final tap of molten material was made on Blast Furnace 4 on Monday 30 September.
Bosses at the Indian steel company insist it is only a matter of time until a new, greener operation is underway.
Plans to shift from using blast furnaces to an electric arc furnace were announced in January.
Reasons behind the decision include offsetting financial losses, as well as a commitment to producing steel in a more environmentally friendly way to reduce CO2 emission.
The restructuring will see 2500 jobs lost across the UK plus an additional 300 in 3 years time. Around 1,900 of those are jobs in Port Talbot.
The majority are expected to have left the steelworks by the end of December, with smaller numbers leaving by the end of March.
Union voices, as well as those in the community, have called the decision 'a tragedy'.
What's the timeline for Tata Steel's electric arc furnace?
October 2024
A consultation phase is currently underway, with people being encouraged to ask questions and share feedback on the electric arc furnace proposals up until 15 October.
November 2024
The steel giant says they will be working closely with authorities to submit planning applications in November.
July 2025
Large scale site work on the furnace is expected to begin in Port Talbot in July next year.
2025-2028
The electric arc furnace is expected to be operational within three years according to the company.
The company says this £1.25 billion project will be the largest investment in the UK steel industry for decades.
What is an electric arc furnace?
An electric arc furnace produces steel differently than the more traditional blast furnace. It is filled with cold recycled steel. Electrodes are then lowered into the furnace.
Electric currents are passed through the electrodes which heat up the furnace like an oven and melts the scrap steel.
Limestone, fluorspar, carbon and oxygen can then be added to purify the steel.
The arc furnace uses a lot less energy than blast furnaces and are said to be "greener". If 100% of the material used is scrap metal, scientists suggests that only 0.67 tonnes of CO2 is produced per tonne of steel.
Why is Tata moving to greener steelmaking?
The company confirmed that previous operations were leaving them with financial losses totalling at around £551 million during the last quarter of 2023.
They had previously claimed losses of up to £1m a day. They claimed that since acquiring the UK steel business from Corus in 2007, it had lost over £4bn.
The shift towards an electric arc furnace will aim to make operations more financially viable.
Tata Steel has also set a zero carbon emission target, and they say the move to an electric arc furnace will get them there, as the decision will reduce the UK’s entire industrial carbon emissions by 8% and Port Talbot’s by 90%, according to the company.
It is also a legal requirement to decarbonise under the government’s net zero plan as well as in keeping with its international obligations under the Paris Agreement.
What has Tata said about the plan?
Speaking after the closure of the blast furnace, Tata's Chief Executive Rajesh Nair said the company is planning "a brighter, greener future through our £1.25 billion investment in low CO2 scrap-based steelamking, which will sustain more than 5,000 jobs across the UK and which will also give Tata Steel businesses across the UK a competitive market advantage."
“I also believe our ability to supply customers with the highest quality low CO2 steels will provide a catalyst for others to co-invest in the South Wales region, and we look forward to future collaborations between business partners, academia, governments and communities that will secure that future.”
Tata Steel boss T V Narendran spoke to ITV Wales' Jonathan Hill at the beginning of the year
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