Hub helps Swansea Bay industry to decarbonise
A NEW £20m City Deal-backed facility that will help heavy industry in the Swansea Bay City Region to decarbonise has been launched.
Led by Neath Port Talbot Council and key partner Swansea University, the new facility will see academic researchers, government and industry collaborating to deliver practical, innovative solutions to decarbonise the steel and metals sector and supply chain.
The facility, known as Switch (South Wales Industrial Transition from Carbon Hub), forms part of the City Deal programme supporting innovation and low-carbon growth. It aims to establish the region as a leader in lowcarbon growth and the green economy.
Located close to Tata’s Port Talbot steelworks and train station, Switch will be an open-access facility. It will provide a purpose-built site and equipment for Swansea University to work with the steel and metals industry to:
■ Develop steel and metal manufacturing processes to reduce carbon emissions;
■ Enable the recovery and recycling of materials and by-products in manufacturing ; and
■ Create advanced materials for the construction, transport and packaging sectors to support net zero solutions for society.
Swansea University has closely collaborated with industry since its foundation. The steel and metals industry remains at the heart of the South Wales community.
Chris Williams, head of industrial decarbonisation for Industry Wales, who leads the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC), said: “South Wales is built on steel and metals. We have the people, expertise and close collaborative relationships to lead the way to a net-zero carbon future for manufacturing industries across the globe.
“Industry has a vital role to play in a more sustainable future. In Wales, we have established a strong collaborative approach to innovation.
“The Switch hub will build on this approach, bringing together expertise from industry, academia and government to provide practical solutions for decarbonisation.
“The Switch hub will further boost our environmental drive here in Wales, by developing sustainable, competitive ways of manufacturing.”
Neath Port Talbot council leader Edward Latham said: “The Switch project will support the transformation and decarbonisation of our important steel and metals industry, and associated supply chain. It complements Neath Port Talbot council’s Decarbonisation and Renewable Energy Strategy (Dare).”
Professor Paul Boyle, vice-chancellor of Swansea University, said: “For Swansea University, successful regional partnerships are as much about supporting the development of people and skills as they are about innovative research.
“The Switch initiative will build upon our 100-year history of purposeful collaboration with industry, to address the challenges of our time and deliver real innovation in Wales.
“This new Switch hub will further expand our research capabilities to work alongside industry and government, in support of our shared ambition for a net-zero Wales.”
Moreover, a new 30-megawatt generator at Tata Steel’s Port Talbot will reduce its energy bill by millions of pounds every year.
At the same time, the huge generator brings environmental benefits as more process gases from the blast furnaces, steelmaking plant and coke ovens can be converted into useful energy – reducing emissions from external power generation by more than 40,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year.
As part of a wider £37m investment of the site’s power station, the generator has been installed in a new turbine hall.
Tata Steel’s project manager Guy Simms said: “Our on-site power plant uses process gases to heat water into steam, which then drives a turbine – like a propellor. This, in turn, drives an electrical rotor to generate our own electricity.
“We have a number of these ‘turbo-alternators’ but not enough to use all the steam we can create.
“This latest addition, however, will make a step-change to our energy-generation capacity. We’ve been hot commissioning the plant, and have run it up to its capacity of 30 megawatts.
“This investment effectively reduces our offsite carbon footprint by 30MW worth of electricity generation, which equates to about 120 tonnes of CO₂ a day or 43,800 tonnes of CO₂ a year.”