A potential high-tech compromise is being considered as the government plans to move British Steel away from its polluting blast furnaces. While Business Secretary Peter Kyle has backed a shift to electric arc furnaces (EAFs), a separate facility to produce “Direct Reduced Iron” (DRI) using clean hydrogen is also on the table.
This DRI facility would be a key solution to a major strategic problem. The move to EAFs, which typically melt scrap, would sacrifice the UK’s ability to make “primary steel” from iron ore. However, DRI is compatible with EAFs and, if produced using green hydrogen, would preserve this primary capability while remaining low-carbon.
This “best of both worlds” solution is not without its critics. Industry sources have already cast doubt on the financial viability of such a complex and expensive arrangement. This leaves the government with a difficult choice between its green ambitions and its previous pledge to protect primary steelmaking.
The pressure to change is immense. The current blast furnaces vent huge amounts of carbon dioxide, making them incompatible with net-zero targets. Kyle, who is finalising a new steel strategy for December, seems determined to modernise, stating he believes EAFs will be built in Scunthorpe.
This technological debate is set against a backdrop of crisis. The Scunthorpe plant is only operating under emergency state control, and the government has already spent vast sums just to keep it and Liberty Steel open. Unions are watching closely, welcoming a “just transition” but demanding that primary steelmaking is not abandoned.