Port Talbot blast furnace restarted

Tata Steel has restarted its second blast furnace at the Port Talbot steelworks following the completion of a £185M rebuilding project.

Known as Blast Furnace No. 4, it was one of the UK’s largest industrial engineering projects of last year (NSC Nov/Dec 2012).  The furnace is more efficient than previous units and will allow Tata Steel to continue to meet the demanding requirements of UK and European manufacturing industries.

Karl Köhler, CEO of Tata Steel’s European operations, said: “This rebuild has been a flagship investment, part of our strategy for long term competitiveness in UK, EU and worldwide markets. The efficiency and sustainability of the new furnace will also make a major contribution to our efforts to create an ‘all-weather’ company in Europe.

Blast Furnace No. 4 was decommissioned in July last year before being completely rebuilt, incorporating the latest technology to improve energy efficiency, environmental performance, safety standards and capacity.

Further energy and environmental benefits will be gained from the recently completed £55M energy-from-heat scheme at Port Talbot’s steel plant which will save 10MW of energy – enough to power 20,000 homes.