Two mothballed Scottish steel plants are to be brought back into production under a renewable-energy fired business plan which will also see them manufacture rolled steel for use in new wind turbine towers.
The former Tata-owned plants at Dalzell and Clydebridge, which are set to resume production in September, will make the steel plate needed for the towers.
New owner Liberty House Group is now recruiting up to 100 people in jobs – ranging from management to shop floor – in Lanarkshire under its ‘Green Steel’ business plan.
Liberty has a range of apprenticeship opportunities on offer, including Modern Apprenticeships in Engineering, Finance and Commercial Planning, a Foundation Apprenticeship and a Graduate Apprenticeship.
And the company is working in collaboration with the local Job Centre to manage new applications and offer their support to local businesses that are suffering from the downturn in the oil and gas sectors in the region.
By using renewable energy to melt the readily available supply of scrap in Britain, Liberty’s ‘Green Steel’ plan represents a much needed change for the UK steel industry, enabling it to become more competitive, flexible and sustainable.
The Dalzell and Clydebridge plants are part of that vision. Liberty will create an’ end-to-end process’ that starts with the melting of UK recovered scrap steel and continues through the manufacture and distribution of high-quality downstream steel products – such as plate from the Scottish steel plants.
Sanjeev Gupta, Executive Chairman of Liberty House, said: “We are very excited about this new opportunity. It is an excellent example of how we are integrating our steel production and manufacturing supply chain to create a robust industrial eco-system.
“It is particularly appropriate that this new business will supply the renewable energy market in view of our own Green Steel strategy, which involves investing in green energy as the basis of a competitive UK steel and engineering industry.”
“Our aim is to create a world-class centre for the production of tubular towers and other large-scale steel fabrication.
Most of these products are currently imported, so there is great potential to substitute this with our own production of best-in-class and competitive British towers, building sustained value and creating skilled jobs in a growth sector.”
RenewableUK Chief Executive, Hugh McNeal, commented: “This shows how the renewable industry can provide a market for steel produced in Britain. The growth of renewables in the UK is a huge opportunity for British businesses, as high demand for quality steel has increased.”
Pixie Energy is an incubator and a facilitator of strategic research and project work, focusing on energy regulation, policy and markets at the local and national level. Find out more about Pixie Energy