Tata Steel has invested £400,000 in new technology at its Port Talbot plant in a bid to reduce its consumption of imported natural gas. The Indian steelmaker said the new equipment will reduce carbon emissions by 10,000 tonnes a year and save it millions of pounds.
The plant currently generates over 70% of its own energy using process gases which replace natural gas and generate electricity through its onsite power plant.
The power plant was upgraded in 2021 with a new £35m 30MW turbo alternator, which the company said has reduced emissions from external power generation by more than 40,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year.
Read more: Port Talbot trucking firm opens new office space and creates 50 jobs following £2.7m investment
On-site gases used in the power plant are supplemented with imported natural gas to even out any imbalance in energy content.
Now Tata Steel has invested a further £400,000 in a new "gas-enrichment station" which tops up the site's native gases only when it is required, minimising the consumption of imported gas.
The high-tech addition will reduce reliance on costly natural gas, lower emissions and save the company millions of pounds a year, said Tata.
Sign up to the BusinessLive Wales newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn
As well as an in-depth early morning newsletter, we will be sending out regular breaking news email alerts. To sign up to this service
And, follow us on to catch the latest stories and to network with the Welsh business community.
Most Read
Project process engineer Imran Shabbir said: “Our on-site boilers use site gases such as blast furnace gas to generate steam. The energy content – or calorific value – of that gas occasionally drops, so we have been using large volumes of natural gas as a secondary fuel to combat this.
"Now however, since natural gas is only injected when the calorific value of the blast furnace gas is low – as opposed to the continuous firing we had previously – we are able to reduce natural gas consumption in our service boilers by around 80%, which equates to around 3300 GigaJoules a week."
Mr Shabbir added: "There is also a significant environmental benefit, as the project will reduce CO2 emissions by more than 10,000 tonnes a year. We’re not resting on our laurels, though. Given the ongoing trend of rising energy costs and the potential savings on the table, we will continue to focus on the company-wide reduction of natural gas.”
Read more:
- "Protect the economy, businesses and people's livelihoods" Welsh business leaders tell new PM Liz Truss
- The man in charge of Britain’s biggest energy port
- Wales' first exotic animal vet practice opens following six-figure backing
- Trading confidence in Wales tumbles as cost of doing business crisis takes hold
New coding academy launched to address FinTech skills gap in Wales