The UK’s Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and Tata Steel plan to establish a national High Temperature Innovation Centre (HTIC).

The pair have signed a Memorandum of Understandfing to establish the centre at Tata Steel’s Teesside Technology Centre (TTC).

Under the MoU, CPI will create an innovation and research facility centred on two new pilot plants which are to be installed on the TTC site.

It will extend the existing capabilities of the site to carry out research and development work in the fields of novel sources of fuel and energy, the recovery of raw materials and reductions in the amounts of organic wastes produced.

The pilot plants to be installed are a 350kg pyrolysis oven and 2m diameter fully flexible gassifier.

The £5M project has received £2.5M investment from One North East through the Tees Valley Industrial Programme, which is helping to accelerate industrial transition in the area.