Britain Switched Off Its Biggest Blast Furnaces — Now Wales Is Building a Giant Electric One

On 30 September 2024, the last iron ran out of Blast Furnace Number 4 at Port Talbot in South Wales, and nearly a hundred years of ironmaking on that coast came to an end. Ten months later, on the same site, work began on something very different: an electric arc furnace designed to melt around two to two and a half million tonnes of British scrap steel a year. This video looks at the six things the plan depends on: the furnace itself, the scrap, the power, the ground, the mill that kept running, and the people of Port Talbot. It also goes back to William Siemens, who turned worn-out iron rails into new steel at Landore in Swansea in 1869 and used an electric arc to melt scrap in 1878. It also covers what is still uncertain. The furnace is not running yet. The original target was the end of 2027, but in 2026 Tata Steel said the grid connection is running late and first steel may not come until late 2028 or 2029. Tata announced up to 2,800 UK job losses, the unions argued for a slower plan, and steel made from scrap alone has limits for some of the highest grades. Figures and timelines are as of October 2026. Chapters: 0:00 The last blast furnace 1:21 The honest part 2:33 The town of steel 3:40 The blast furnace problem 4:26 The man from Landore 5:23 #6 The furnace 6:11 #5 The scrap 7:03 #4 The power 7:58 #3 The ground 8:45 #2 The mill that kept running 9:23 #1 The people 9:50 The number 10:13 How the pieces lock together 10:49 What comes next Sources: Tata Steel UK — Closure of Blast Furnace 4 (Sep 2024) Tata Steel UK — Tata Steel signs contract for green steelmaking technology, Tenova electric arc furnace (press release, Oct 2024) Tata Steel UK — Inside the transformation of Port Talbot steelplant (Jan 2026) Tata Steel UK — One year on: Port Talbot electric arc furnace transformation (Jun 2026) UK Government — Welsh steel's future secured: Port Talbot green transition proposal (press release, Sep 2023) UK Government — Government puts workers at the heart of new and improved Port Talbot deal (press release, Sep 2024) The Construction Index — McAlpine breaks ground on £1.25bn Port Talbot furnace (Jul 2025) Business News Wales — National Grid plans for network upgrades to support the Port Talbot green steel transition (Jul 2025) Swansea Bay News — Tata Steel on the delayed National Grid connection (Jun 2026) Sky News via Telangana Today and GMK Center — Tata Steel seeks talks with UK government over Port Talbot EAF delays (Sep 2026) PM Today — Tata Steel steps up construction of £1.25bn Port Talbot electric furnace (Oct 2026) Let's Recycle and the British Metals Recycling Association — UK ferrous scrap exports, Export Report 2025 GMK Center and EUWID Recycling — share of electric arc furnaces in global and EU steel production (2024–2025) LBC — Port Talbot job losses announcement (2024) Community union — Multi-Union Plan for Port Talbot (2024) Grace's Guide to British Industrial History — Landore Siemens Steel Co Encyclopaedia Britannica — Sir William Siemens Wikipedia — Port Talbot Steelworks; Electric arc furnace; Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025 Photo credits: "Port Talbot Steelworks, Luftbild" — Clint Budd — CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Port Talbot Steelworks, Luftbild, Nachtansicht" — Clint Budd — CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Neath Port Talbot , Steel Works" — Lewis Clarke — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Port Talbot Steelworks" — Chris Andrews — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Port talbot large" — Grubb at English Wikipedia — Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) "Port Talbot Steelworks Eye mural" — Jaggery — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Port Talbot , M4 Motorway" — Lewis Clarke — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Neath Port Talbot , M4 Motorway" — Lewis Clarke — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Tata Steel, Port Talbot" — Eirian Evans — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Tata Steel, Port Talbot" — Eirian Evans — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Tata Steel Strip Mill, Port Talbot" — Sionk — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Margam Moor with Tata Steelworks beyond" — Eirian Evans — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Margam Sands and Port Talbot Steelworks" — Gareth James — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Margam Sands and Port Talbot Steelworks" — Gareth James — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Steelworks shunter in Margam Yard" — Gareth James — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Neath Port Talbot , Port Talbot Scenery" — Lewis Clarke — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) "Sir William Siemens by Rudolph Lehmann" — Rudolph Lehmann (died 1905) — Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) "PSM V24 D448 Charles William Siemens" — Unknown author — Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) "Landore Siemens Steel Company 1883" — Julie Ceccaldi — CC0 (Wikimedia Commons) "DASA - electric arc furnace 02" — Arnoldius — CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons) #PortTalbot #Steel #Wales #Engineering #GreenSteel