British Steel has announced a £250 million investment in an electric arc furnace (EAF) for its Scunthorpe site, marking a significant shift away from traditional blast furnace steelmaking. The move, unveiled this morning, is part of a broader decarbonisation push across the UK steel industry.
The new furnace will replace two aging blast furnaces at the plant, which currently produce around 3 million tonnes of steel a year. Electric arc furnaces use scrap steel rather than iron ore and coke, cutting carbon emissions by up to 75%.
Industry sources told The British Wire the investment was critical to the site's survival. Without this shift, Scunthorpe risked becoming unviable under tightening carbon regulations and rising costs.
Workers at the plant have been given assurances that the transition will not lead to immediate job losses. Numbers at the site have already fallen from 4,000 to around 3,200 over the past decade. Union leaders said they were still seeking guarantees on future employment levels.
The investment is partly funded by the government's £300m Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge. Ministers hailed the move as proof that the UK can compete in green steelmaking.
But critics say the plan falls short. The steelworkers' union Community noted that the furnace would require 1.2 million tonnes of scrap steel a year, much of it likely imported. They warned that this could undermine UK recycling markets and increase the industry's exposure to volatile global prices.
Environmental groups, while welcoming the emissions cuts, said British Steel's parent company, Jingye, must do more to clean up its other operations. The Chinese-owned firm also runs plants in Teesside and France.
The Scunthorpe announcement comes amid a wave of similar projects. Tata Steel is planning a £1.25bn EAF at Port Talbot, having closed its blast furnaces there last year. SSI's Teesside plant has been mothballed since 2015.
For Scunthorpe, the new furnace represents a lifeline. The town has been making steel since the 1860s, and the industry still employs thousands in the region. Without investment, the site would have faced closure within a decade.
Construction is due to begin next year, with the furnace operational by 2027. British Steel said the project would create 500 construction jobs and secure long-term steelmaking in Scunthorpe for another generation.
But questions remain. The UK currently lacks sufficient grid capacity to power multiple electric arc furnaces simultaneously. National Grid has warned that proposed green steel projects could require up to 2 gigawatts of power, equivalent to a small nuclear plant.
Industry insiders said the government must urgently address energy infrastructure if the country is to achieve its net zero ambitions. Without cheaper, cleaner power, the new furnaces could simply shift emissions from smokestacks to power stations.
The Scunthorpe project is a step in the right direction. But it is only one step. The UK steel industry still faces existential challenges: cheap imports, weak demand, and a fragmented policy landscape.
