IGEM CEO visits Tata Steel's Corby Steelworks

IGEM CEO Oliver Lancaster was very pleased to accept an invitation from Tata Steel to visit the Corby Steelworks plant to meet with the senior team involved in pipe manufacturing at Corby and Hartlepool.

Time was set aside for a discussion relating to energy system pathways, the challenges of meeting the demand from different sectors and that they are grouped together across the network, the work being delivered for industrial clusters, plans for hydrogen transmission and distribution backbones, hydrogen blending, and the timeline to deliver transformation of a net zero gas grid at national, regional and local levels.

It was also useful to get perspectives on pipe materials, characteristics and specifications and the challenges and opportunities these bring for GB steel pipe manufacturing.

After discussing energy system futures, Ollie was taken on tour of the enormous production process that explained pipe manufacturing from the coils that are delivered from Port Talbot, the energy needs of forming tubes of different sizes, the racking of pipes ready for delivery and the detailed real-time quality assurance that takes place before a product leaves the site.

A visit is being planned in 2024 to see the larger diameter pipes being made in Hartlepool and to look at the decarbonisation options and role for hydrogen going forward.