Celsa Cardiff Steelworks Static VAR Compensator

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Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK

£14,999,995

May 31, 2021

Feb. 29, 2024

Celsa (Manufacturing) UK is the largest manufacturer of steel reinforcement in the UK as well as one of the largest manufacturers of other steel long products. There are 3 distinct processing areas at the site: the Melt Shop, where scrap steel is sorted, processed and melted into billets through the use of an electric arc furnace (EAF) -- a 33kV system that sends current through electrodes to melt 100% UK scrap metal with electricity; the Section Mill where the billets are processed into merchant bar and light sections such as those seen in roof construction; and the Rod & Bar Mill where the billets are rolled into reinforcing products and wire rod with one use being rebar mesh in concrete foundations. From these facilities in Cardiff, CELSA produces and delivers around 1.2 million tonnes of finished product each year, mainly supplying the UK and Irish Markets, and is 100% recyclable at the end of its life.

This project looks to install a large piece of equipment, a static VAR compensator (SVC), to the high voltage EAF and reduce the reactive power of the system. This in turn will reduce the time it takes to melt steel within the EAF and thereby increasing the production output for the same energy as before an SVC is installed; it is anticipated to also improve the whole Melt Shop natural gas and low voltage electricity efficiency as well. As the scrap melting times and output of the Melt Shop bottlenecks the downstream processing mills, this increased production will also enable the speed up of the Section Mill and Rod & Bar Mill's processes and thereby reduce their energy consumption per tonne of steel output both for natural gas and electricity.

Strategically this is also a highly beneficial project to the UK as a whole since currently 7-8Mt of UK scrap is exported, processed outside of the UK, and then reimported needlessly. Instead, this project will enable an increase of domestic scrap processing and production of steel with a high value to the UK economy and the natural reduction in carbon associated with the extra transport of scrap around the world.