Tata Steel electric furnace approved by planners

Tata Steel’s bid to build a £1.25bn electric arc furnace at its Port Talbot steelworks has been given the go-ahead by planners.

Neath Port Talbot planning committee approved the company’s plans to begin construction in the summer, with the furnace expected to be operational by early 2028.

The EAF will melt mostly scrap steel and will replace both blast furnaces which closed in Port Talbot last year.

In its planning application Tata Steel said it had lost £4bn in Port Talbot since 2007 and the new furnace would create a “financially and environmentally sustainable” business.

Tata Steel has already appointed contractor Sir Robert McAlpine to deliver the project, which will involve the demolition of existing structures and partially filling an on-site lagoon.

New buildings to be constructed will include the furnace complex, a fume and dust treatment plant and a water treatment facilitiy.

A scrap processing plant will also be required.

The furnace will work by melting mostly scrap steel, with other purer forms also being added in order to achieve specialist grades of the metal.

Asked about the potential impact of US tariffs on steel imports, Tata Steel UK boss Rajesh Nair said it was a “significant” question and that the company was “still watching the space”.

“Ideally we would like to have a level playing field, where everyone plays the game in the right way,” he said.

The new electric furnace will have ultra-low emissions if the energy supply comes from renewable sources.

Tata Steel said the machinery manufacturer JCB had committed to buying “green” steel from the new furnace.

The development will reduce carbon emissions by up to 90% compared with the previous blast furnace operation in Port Talbot.

Tata Steel had consistently said it was losing £1m a day while keeping its blast furnaces running.

The closure of the blast furnaces and the rest of the heavy end of steel production in Port Talbot led to around 2,500 job losses in south Wales, with a further 300 to come in future.

Many of those who were made redundant have left the company since the last of the blast furnaces closed in September 2024.

Steel mills in Port Talbot are still in operation, and are treating imported slabs of steel. They will eventually be supplied with steel produced by the new electric furnace.