Earlier this year, the UK government laid out plans for "clean and affordable" energy in its energy security strategy. Achieving greater self-sufficiency in generation has become vital after global events led to skyrocketing energy prices and significant government intervention in the energy market to cap prices.
New study from Tata Steel, the world's largest steelmaker in the country - shows that by 2030, more than five million tons of steel will be required to build several thousand offshore wind turbines. The planned solar and nuclear power plants that will power the UK in the future are expected to require around 3.5 million tons of steel products in the coming years.
Tata Steel estimates that 1.5 million tons of steel will be needed to create infrastructure for the production and distribution of hydrogen, as well as for large-scale carbon capture projects. And rolled metal will also be needed to unlock new sources of oil and gas in the North Sea.
“A strong domestic and safe steel industry is fundamental to the UK government's ambitious energy plans. But if UK manufacturers are to supply the steel they need and continue to employ many thousands of people in this country, we need to invest in and transform this strategically important industry so that it can produce carbon-neutral steel. We need to learn from the UK's energy supply, which the government says has "become dependent on foreign sources", undermining the country's energy independence," Henrik Adam, Chairman of Tata Steel UK, said in a comment.
“The green energy revolution presents a huge opportunity to build a robust UK supply chain based on high quality domestic steel supply. The events of the past two years tell us that the UK cannot rely on fragile global supply chains for strategic goods, and if we want to go green it makes no sense to ship steel from the other side of the world. The use of British steel will not only be critical to meeting our climate goals, but will also support thousands of good jobs and steelmaking communities across the country. Steelmakers are counting on the government to support investment in green steel and do more to ensure UK jobs benefit from taxpayer-supported energy projects,” said Roy Rickhus, Community Secretary General and Chairman of the National Steel Industry Coordinating Committee.
“These numbers clearly demonstrate the enormous opportunity that the transition to energy represents not only for reducing emissions, but also for boosting the UK economy, UK manufacturing and the UK steel sector, which already has the largest offshore sector in the world. wind power, but with the goal of increasing capacity by 400% in this decade, we are just starting. Opportunities have been missed in the past to build a complete UK supply chain for the sector, but with so much growth still ahead of us, it's time to get it right. Similar opportunities exist in our expansion of nuclear and solar energy, as well as the deployment of CCS and hydrogen networks. The UK steel industry is in the best position to supply steel for this new UK energy infrastructure and this will help maximize the jobs and economic growth that the energy transition can provide for the UK. Today, our sector employs 33,700 people directly and another 42,000 indirectly through the purchase of goods and services, with the majority of jobs concentrated in Yorkshire and the Humber region, as well as in Wales, where wages in the steel industry are at 59% higher than the regional average. Making British energy from British steel is in practice a green industrial revolution, creating green jobs, economic growth and uplifting,” said Gareth Stace, CEO of UK Steel.
