British Steel has lodged proposals to build a steel manufacturing facility on a 41-acre site in Lackenby, near Middlesbrough.
The main facility, measuring 366,134 sq ft, is expected to be used to manufacture steel using new, greener methods and technology known as an electric arc furnace.
The planning application, which was submitted to the council just before Christmas, also includes 182,986 sq ft of associated buildings.
The new facility would replace ageing iron and steelmaking operations which are responsible for most of the company’s current CO2 emissions.
British Steel unveiled its low-carbon roadmap in October 2021, pledging to invest in a range of technologies to deliver net-zero steel by 2050, and cut down its CO2 intensity by 2030 and 2035.
The company, owned by China’s Jingye, is now proposing to accelerate its decarbonisation journey with the potential new operating structure able to reduce its CO2 intensity by around 75%.
In November last year, British Steel unveiled £1.25bn plans to become a clean, green and sustainable business. As part of its decarbonisation programme, the company has proposed to install two EAFs – the first at its headquarters in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, and the second in Lackenby.
The latter has been a former steelworks site operated by Sahaviriya Steel Industries before it went into liquidation in October 2015, bringing to an end almost 170 years of iron and steel making on Teesside. The Redcar iron and coke complex, together with the Lackenby steel plant and the South Bank coke ovens, were closed.
Since then, a mayoral development corporation known as Teesworks has been established, and a plan to redevelop a location for new green industries has been advancing.
If approved, the new furnace could be operational by late 2025.
British Steel’s new manufacturing hub is expected to bring back steel production to Teesside and link with the company’s existing Teesside Beam Mill, also in Lackenby, and its special profiles mill at Skinningrove, which processes steel for industrial uses.
There have been no updates yet on British Steel’s decision to press ahead with similar proposals in Scunthorpe.
Lichfields is advising British Steel on planning.
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