Yahoo News British Steel seals permission for new Scunthorpe furnace as part of £1.25bn decarbonisation plan
British Steel has been granted planning permission to build an electric arc furnace at its Scunthorpe headquarters following a tight vote by councillors.
The firm’s application, which forms part of its £1.25bn decarbonisation plan, was approved by North Lincolnshire Council following a detailed consultation period. The vote was tied with four-apiece, until chair Coun Nigel Sherwood’s decisive casting vote, after he saw no planning grounds to refuse it.
The positive decision comes soon after a similar application was agreed to build another Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) at Redcar, on Teesside, a move which represents the manufacturer’s biggest transformation in more than 100 years of steelmaking, reviving a traditional industry in the region while also introducing more sustainable, modern technology.
However, British Steel – owned by Chinese giant Jingye since 2020 – has reiterated that its transformation to replace its coke blast furnaces at the two sites is “subject to appropriate support from the UK Government”.
The Government has offered £300m of investment to British Steel to aid the plans and talks between Jingye and the Government have been continuing. Tata Steel has also secured a support package of £500m from the Government to aid its switch to electric at Port Talbot.
British Steel President and CEO Xijun Cao said: “We’re extremely pleased to have received planning permissions to build Electric Arc Furnaces at our Scunthorpe and Teesside sites. It is a significant step forward in our journey to net zero and we thank everyone who has supported our plans. The proposed installation of EAFs in Scunthorpe and Teesside is central to our journey to a green future as they would help us reduce emissions of CO2 by more than 75%. However, it is crucial we now secure the backing of the UK Government.
“Our owner, Jingye, is committed to the unprecedented investment decarbonisation requires and our desire to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint, coupled with challenging market conditions, means it is imperative swift and decisive action is taken to ensure a sustainable future for British Steel. We are committed to working with the UK Government and need to reach an agreement quickly so we can achieve our ambitious goals, secure thousands of jobs and keep making the steel Britain needs for generations to come.”
Significant preparation works, including environmental and technical studies, and equipment selection, are now under way and the EAF could be up and running as early as December 2025. The company proposes maintaining current operations until a transition to electric arc steelmaking.
Unions have previously warned of large scale job losses at Scunthorpe, which currently employs more than 3,200 people, if the plan proceeded. British Steel has started preliminary talks with trade unions about electrification, and has promised to support employees affected by its decarbonisation plans.
Mr Cao added: “We are confident our proposals will help secure the low-embedded carbon steelmaking the UK requires now and for decades to come.”
