Work begins on Port Talbot’s new furnace

Local TV

It’s a ‘bittersweet day’ according to union bosses, for Port Talbot, as the newest chapter in the steelworks begins. A new ‘greener’ blast arc furnace will be operational by 2027 after the first ground was broken on Monday.

Transcript

00:01Work has officially began this week on the new electric arc furnace at Port Talbot Steelworks,

00:06marking the start of a long-promised shift towards green steel production.

00:10Ministers, Tata Steel executives and trade union representatives gathered at the South Wales site on Monday for a groundbreaking ceremony

00:17to launch construction of the £1.25 billion facility.

00:21It was described as a momentous day by Wales' First Minister, Eleonad Morgan,

00:25who said the project has now secured the long-term future of steelmaking in Port Talbot,

00:30a town where generations of families have worked in heavy industry.

00:34The move is backed by £500 million in UK government funding,

00:38with Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds calling it great news for Welsh steelmaking,

00:42a key pillar of the UK's industrial strategy.

00:45The new furnace will produce steel by melting down scrap metal,

00:48and protest Tata claims will cut carbon emissions at the site by 90%,

00:53compared to traditional blast furnaces, but it does mean the end of virgin steel production in the town.

00:58The reality is that what the Steelworkers Union called a bittersweet day.

01:03Assistant General Secretary Alison McDiarmid said the closure of the blast furnaces,

01:07which took place last September, had been devastating with 2,500 jobs lost.

01:13But he also said this moment offers a turning point,

01:16a first step in rebuilding the industry with hopes of new high-quality jobs emerging in the years ahead.

01:21Tata's chairman, Natharaj and Chandra Sakharan,

01:24said it was an important day not just for the company, but for the UK as a whole,

01:28laying the foundations, he said, for a cleaner, greener future.

01:33The electric arc furnace is set to switch on in 2027,

01:36with its success closely watched, not just in Port Talbot,

01:39but across all of Britain's struggling steel communities.

01:41James Peach Watkins, reporting for Local TV.

01:44James Peach Watkins, reporting for Local TV.

Category

Transcript

Recommended