The plans for a new electric arc oven in Port Talbot were approved by the local planning authority.
Tata Steel’s application was presented Tuesday morning at a meeting of the Neath Port Talbot council planning committee.
Business closed its two stoves Last year and said they would be replaced by an electric arc oven, as part of its transition to greener production methods.
The closure of the Hautes Fourneaux saw nearly 3,000 lost jobs, but Tata claims that 5,000 jobs based in the United Kingdom were saved, with CO2 emissions on site reduced by 90%.
Talbot Steelworks port. Pic: Joann Randles / Cover Images / AP
A support document considered by the planning committee, which recommended the approval of the request, noted that it was a “development of national strategic importance”.
The application included the demolition of existing buildings and structures as well as the construction of the new installation.
Rajesh Nair, CEO of Tata Steel UK, said the company was “determined to start work on site this summer”.
Nair said that the investment of 1.25 billion pounds Sterling was “the most important investment made in the British steel industry for decades”.
The investment was supported by the financing of the British government of 500 million pounds sterling.
It is planned that the electric arc oven will be in service at the end of 2027.
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The news that a building permit was granted was greeted by Wales Secretary Jo Stevens, who described him as a “significant step”.
She declared that the decision had been “more certainty on the plans of Tata for the site and for the future of steel in the south of Wales”.