Tata Steel, Europe’s second largest steel producer, has invested £53 million at its plant at Port Talbot in Wales to reduce its external power requirements by about 15% and contribute towards making the site self-sufficient in energy.
The investment will introduce a new cooling system in the Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS) plant that will have the benefit of producing steam, allowing electricity to be generated. The resulting reduction in energy consumption will improve the sustainability of steelmaking in Wales. The 10MW of energy that will be saved would be enough to power an estimated 20,000 homes.
The main project work will be carried out in the second half of next year, in parallel with the £185 million rebuilding of Port Talbot’s No 4 blast furnace. The investment also follows the £60 million BOS plant Energy Recovery project, which was completed in May last year.