British Steel has commissioned its first electric arc furnace at the Scunthorpe works, marking the completion of a £1.2 billion green transition that will reduce the plant's carbon emissions by 75 per cent.
The new furnace, which melts recycled scrap steel using renewable electricity, replaces coal-fired blast furnaces that had operated continuously since the 1960s. The transition preserves 2,500 jobs at the site while positioning British Steel as one of Europe's lowest-carbon primary steel producers.
"This is what a just transition looks like," said the Business Secretary, who attended the commissioning ceremony. "Industrial communities don't have to choose between their livelihoods and the planet."
The project was made possible by a £500 million government subsidy, controversially awarded despite European Commission concerns about state aid distortion. British Steel's Chinese owner, Jingye Group, contributed the remaining £700 million.
The green steel produced at Scunthorpe will carry a carbon intensity of approximately 0.4 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel — less than a quarter of the global average. Several major automakers and construction firms have already signed long-term supply agreements at premium pricing.
