British Steel Scunthorpe: Plans for electric arc furnace submitted

British Steel hopes the electric arc furnace at its Scunthorpe plant will be operational by December

British Steel has applied for planning permission to build an electric arc furnace at its Scunthorpe steelworks. 

It comes after the firm announced proposals to scrap its blast furnaces at the site and go for greener electric arc furnaces (EAFs).

The company said its proposal would make British Steel "a clean, green and sustainable business".

Unions have previously said the changes would result in the loss of 1,500 to 2,000 jobs.

The application form states there are currently 3,230 employees at the site, but the "proposed employees" section has been left blank, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

LDRS said around 42 acres (17 hectares) at the south-eastern corner of the site would be taken up by the EAF, with the building reaching a maximum height of 236ft (72m).

If granted approval, the EAF, which would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, was expected to be operational by December next year.

The Unite union previously said it "cannot allow" the level of job losses that the closure of the coal-fired furnaces could bring.

However, British Steel said the proposed £1.25bn investment in Scunthorpe and its Teesside plant would make it "a green and sustainable company".

"We firmly believe electrification will provide a rapid and sustainable solution to our decarbonisation challenge in addition to providing support for sustainable employment," a spokesman said.

The firm, which is owned by China's Jingye Group, said it had invested £330m in UK steelmaking.