Steel factory evening shutdown to stop power cuts

The steelworks in Corby are shutting down at 17:00 GMT to save costs and help the UK's energy system

One of the only steel tube factories in the UK said it was shutting down before the evening energy peak to help prevent electricity shortages.

Last year, National Grid said Britain could face power cuts this winter, but that was a worst-case scenario.

The Tata steelworks in Corby, Northamptonshire, has an electric furnace which uses the equivalent energy of 11,000 households, as well as a gas furnace for heating the steel.

Paul Ilko, from Tata, said: "We've deliberately scheduled our operations to avoid those evening hours, because that's when the peak demand for electric is on the system."

Tata Steel manager Paul Ilko said the Corby factory had made a number of changes to use less energy

National Grid said any power cuts would most likely occur between 16:00 and 19:00 GMT.

Mr Ilko said the factory, which has produced steel tubes for Wembley and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, was only operating between 09:00 and 17:00.

He said that was "because of cost to ourselves but also in terms of stability of the system, making sure there is enough [electricity] to go around for everyone at that critical time".

"We've done a lot over the years to improve our energy efficiency but we still consume a lot of energy," he said.

Tata Steel said it was committed to becoming net zero

The government is expected to announce hundreds of millions of pounds of support to help Britain's two biggest steelmakers, including Tata, reduce carbon emissions.

But Mr Ilko said the company was already beginning to move to net zero.

He said the factory was due to replace the gas furnace with a more efficient electric convection one and make other changes to the mill to reduce energy usage.

"We're investing very heavily in Corby," he said.

The factory in Northamptonshire manufactures hot finished steel tubes