Tata Steel appoints contractor for new electric arc furnace

Lewis Smith, local democracy reporter

A main contractor has been appointed to support Tata Steel’s £1.25bn green steel-making project at its Port Talbot steelworks site.

UK construction and civil engineering company Sir Robert McAlpine will be responsible for managing the main “civil, structural and building works” for the development of a new electric arc furnace in the town.

Plans say the steel production facility could eventually produce around 3m tonnes of steel per year if given the go-ahead by council bosses in the coming months, with a final project which includes a new electric arc furnace, ladle furnaces and associated works.

Scrap steel

While operations with the electric arc will mean no “virgin steel” created from scratch can be made at the site moving forward, and not as many members of staff will be required to run it, plans say the new furnace will still have a capacity to produce millions of tonnes of steel each year through melting scrap steel.

The announcement comes after the closure of the site’s two massive blast furnaces in September 2024, with around 2,000 redundancies expected as a result.

It follows a seperate contract being awarded to Italian firm Tenova to build the electric arc furnace, with expectations it could be the biggest of its kind in the world once up and running some time towards the end of 2027.

Decarbonisation

A spokesperson for Tata Steel said: “This is a major initiative aimed at transforming Port Talbot to support Tata Steel UK’s decarbonisation goals, securing a more sustainable future and ultimately leading to a new chapter in UK steelmaking.

“The project aims to be completed over a three-year construction period, with enabling works for the project commencing in Q1 2025 and main civil, structural and building works scheduled to start in Q3 2025, subject to planning approval.”

Craig Allen, managing director, industrial, at Sir Robert McAlpine, said: “We are proud to be part of the decarbonisation of Port Talbot steelworks, which will play a pivotal role in turning the Port Talbot site into a world-leading hub for sustainable steel production.

“Our robust relationship with Tata Steel UK and long-standing industrial expertise makes us the ideal partner for this transformation. We look forward to working collaboratively, as part of a fully integrated project team, to deliver the project successfully.”