Tata Steel invests £400,000 in green technology at Port Talbot plant

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.

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.

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."

Shabbir added: "There is also a significant environmental benefit, as the project will reduce CO₂ emissions by more than 10kt/yr. 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.”