RE: Port Talbot steel plant going electric5 Nov 2023 12:09
Mick-b this is a reply from a local in the area !
As someone from the area, reading about this in the local newspapers for years and knowing people involved in building it.
For what it's worth, Hybrit (competition to H2GS) is already making and selling green steel (just 30min from this plant) and is aiming to open their first big plant around 2028-2030. Many see this as impossible. Even though Hybrit already got most permissions, contracts and have already made over 500tons of green steel.
H2GS hasn't even begun construction on the buildings yet. They have no demo plants or proved working tech. They are doing ground work and will continue with that for most of 2023. They have no permit for water (they need around 2000L per second) and no connection to the electrical grid. Last I saw they might get electricity in 2026.
They also lack a supplier of iron ore (they wanted to use LKAB but LKAB said they have no extra to sell).
They lack hundreds of workers to build it. It seems the nearest port won't have enough capacity until after 2030 so they might struggle to ship ore from other countries.
And they need hundreds of truck drivers in a region that currently lack thousands and is predicted to be missing around 10000 drivers by 2050. They also need to recruit around a thousand workers in a region with the lowest unemployment rate in the country. Currently in Norrbotten there is ~250k inhabitants, in next 20 years we need over 100k to move here to meet demand. Some forecasts (assuming these projects work) says we need 200k new inhabitants by 2050.
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