Good News Post - inspiring stories, hope, positivity, well-being, and a happier outlook on life. [Unofficial]1d agoVolunteers Help Improve Sensory Nature Space at Swansea Resource Centre
Good News Post - inspiring stories, hope, positivity, well-being, and a happier outlook on life. [Unofficial]1d ago
Khurram Wadee ✅#NationalGrid: Live
Once again, we’re in negative price territory for #Electricity generation with over 80% coming from #RenewableEnergy sources and we’re also net-exporting it to other countries and putting energy into #PumpedStorage too.
Kit PetersGREEN STEEL DELAY: ‘No formal change’ to furnace timetable — as row breaks out over who knew what
A political row has broken out in the Senedd over who knew what — and when — about the delay to Port Talbot‘s £1.25bn electric arc furnace.
News that the furnace could be delayed by up to eight months because of a hold-up to its National Grid power connection emerged on 7 June — days after a major fire at the steelworks’ Cold Mill.
Welsh Conservative shadow minister for economy, energy and planning Janet Finch-Saunders MS raised the issue during an emergency statement in the Senedd on Wednesday following the fire — saying that while attention had focused on the blaze, concerns about delays to the furnace may have been known for weeks.
It was reported on 7 June that Tata Steel had discussed potential delays linked to National Grid connectivity issues with “investors” during a conference call around a month earlier.
Ms Finch-Saunders is seeking clarity on whether those “investors” included the UK Government — which is putting £500m towards the £1.25bn project.
“If UK Government Ministers were aware of the issue a month ago, were Welsh Government Ministers informed? If Welsh Government were not informed, why not? If Welsh Government were informed, why did the Economy Minister tell the Senedd today that he only became aware of the delay on Monday?” she said.
“We now need a clear timeline setting out exactly when concerns first emerged and who was told. Port Talbot workers and their families deserve answers.”
The Welsh Conservatives are also seeking clarification on whether any of the £80m transition fund established by the previous UK Conservative government — to support workers at risk of losing their jobs — remains available if the delays create further financial problems for affected workers.
But First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth defended his government’s handling of the situation — telling the Senedd that Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy Adam Price had spoken directly with Tata Steel UK’s chief executive the previous day.
“My government is determined to do all that we can to support investment at TATA,” he said. “My minister for enterprise, connectivity and energy did speak yesterday with Tata Steel UK’s Chief Executive Officer in order to discuss the way ahead in terms of the electricity connection.
“Many of the powers of course are in the hands of the UK Government, but we will do everything in our powers as a Welsh Government to facilitate progress towards the delivery of that investment. That is why my minister acted so quickly.”
The First Minister also took aim at opposition parties’ records on steel: “The contribution made last year by Reform was to say that they wanted to bring back a defunct blast furnace to secure the future of Port Talbot, while my party put plans on the table that could have retained, we believe, virgin steel making in Port Talbot.”
Meanwhile, Aberafan Maesteg MP Stephen Kinnock — whose constituency includes the steelworks — said he had met Tata for a briefing on the implications of the fire, and revealed the company is looking at reviving its mothballed cold mill at Llanwern to maintain supply to customers.
“They have acted at speed to limit disruption and are looking at options to maintain supply to their customers, including by reviving the previously mothballed cold mill in Llanwern,” he said in a statement issued on 10 June. “Tata are working with the unions to look at the deployment / re-deployment of personnel working across both the Pickle Line and Cold Mill at Port Talbot.”
On the furnace delay, Mr Kinnock said: “I also received an update on reports of potential delays to the EAF project. There is no formal change in the timetable at this stage and National Grid, UK Government and Tata Steel are continuing to work together to deliver the project in a timely fashion.”
He also thanked firefighters “for their efforts in bringing the blaze under control and the professionalism of Tata’s workforce”, saying the response meant there were “thankfully no injuries”.
The electric arc furnace is the centrepiece of Tata’s transition at Port Talbot following the closure of the works’ blast furnaces, and the connection delay has already prompted cross-party calls for answers from Tata and National Grid — with former Aberavon MS David Rees among those calling for National Grid to face penalties over the hold-up.
The Welsh Government’s response to the delay — and the Conservatives’ demand for a timeline — comes with the steelworks still recovering from the Cold Mill fire, which burned for two days earlier this month and caused part of the building to collapse.
Answers to the questions of who knew about the delay, and when, are now awaited from both governments.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
GREEN STEEL: Port Talbot’s £1.25bn furnace could be delayed by up to eight months over power hold-up
How the delay first emerged.
GREEN STEEL DELAY: Cross-party calls for answers over Port Talbot furnace setback as politicians press Tata and National Grid
The political reaction to the setback.
PORT TALBOT: Steelworks fire burns into a second day as part of the building collapses — with union warning over jobs
The fire at the works earlier this month.
Manc AvGeekPhoto of the Day 12th June 2026.
On This Day 12th June 1993.
On This Day 12th June 2014.
Frankfurt Friday 12th June 2026.
GREEN STEEL DELAY: Cross-party calls for answers over Port Talbot furnace setback as politicians press Tata and National Grid
The delay to Port Talbot’s new electric arc furnace has prompted a cross-party call for answers at the Senedd, with members pressing both Tata Steel and the National Grid.
The £1.25bn furnace, central to the future of steelmaking in the town, could be held up by up to eight months because of delays to the power infrastructure the National Grid is building to run it.
Elyn Stephens, Plaid Cymru MS for Afan Ogwr Rhondda, said the delay was “another blow to the communities I represent”.
She said it meant a longer wait for much-needed jobs and economic regeneration, and created further uncertainty for local residents.
“I have contacted Tata directly this afternoon and will be making further representations tomorrow,” she said.
“People in Port Talbot deserve honesty and transparency about when this development is expected to be delivered.”
Huw Irranca-Davies, Labour MS for Afan Ogwr Rhondda, said the news — coming on top of the recent fire at the works — had caused understandable concern for the workforce, unions and the wider supply chain across Wales.
He said he had already been in contact with Tata to seek assurances that the transition to electric steelmaking was proceeding and that the jobs relying on it were protected.
Irranca-Davies said he understood Tata might issue a further statement in the coming days, which he hoped would offer reassurance that the difficulties would be overcome.
He added that he had accepted a place alongside other local members on the Tata Transition Board, and had asked the UK government and the new Welsh Government — including the Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Adam Price — to support the move to electric arc production.
The delay also drew comment from the Welsh Conservatives. Janet Finch-Saunders, the party’s shadow minister for enterprise, connectivity and energy, called the situation “deeply concerning”.
She said the furnace was “a vital investment for the future of Welsh steelmaking, jobs and economic growth”, and that the National Grid and the UK government “must urgently work together to resolve these connectivity issues and ensure this strategically important project is delivered without further delay”.
The interventions follow a similar call from David Rees, the former Aberavon MS who chaired the Senedd’s cross-party group on steel, who said the National Grid should face penalties if the connection slipped further.
The electric arc furnace is designed to make lower-carbon “green steel” by melting scrap rather than burning coal, replacing the blast furnaces that closed in 2024 with the loss of around 2,000 jobs — part of a wider £1.25bn transformation of the works.
It relies on a major grid upgrade — including a major substation expansion approved by the council earlier this year — which the National Grid has said is running late because of ground conditions and planning issues.
Tata has said the project timeline “continues to evolve” and that it is working to deliver the furnace “safely and as quickly as possible”.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
GREEN STEEL: Port Talbot’s £1.25bn furnace could be delayed by up to eight months over power hold-up
Tata’s warning over the delayed grid connection.
GREEN STEEL DELAY: Former Aberavon MS says National Grid should face penalties
David Rees calls for penalties if the connection slips further.
‘Green power’ boost for Port Talbot as council green-lights major substation expansion
The substation upgrade central to powering the new furnace.
STEELWORKS FIRE: Tata says blaze restricted to ‘confined area’ of Cold Mill
A separate fire at the site earlier this month.
World news | The GuardianUnions attack ‘year-long delay’ for Tata Steel furnace’s grid connection in south Wales https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/08/unions-attack-delay-tata-steel-furnaces-grid-connection-south-wales #SteelIndustry #Tata #NationalGrid #EnergyIndustry #Utilities #Business #TradeUnions #UkNews #ManufacturingSector #Wales #Politics
GREEN STEEL DELAY: Former Aberavon MS says National Grid should face penalties over delayed electric furnace connection
The delay to Port Talbot’s new electric arc furnace — caused by the National Grid’s own infrastructure works running behind — is worse than feared, according to the former politician who spent years scrutinising the project.
David Rees, the former Labour MS for Aberavon and a long-standing chair of the Senedd’s cross-party group on steel, was responding to Tata Steel’s warning that the £1.25bn furnace could be held up by up to eight months, after the National Grid told the company its connection project was running late.
The grid operator needs to build two new substations and lay miles of underground cabling to power the furnace, and has blamed ground conditions and planning issues for the hold-up.
His comments relate to that grid connection — a separate issue from the recent fire at the site’s cold mill.
Rees said he had questioned the grid connection from the very start of the project.
“One of the questions I asked Tata at the beginning of the EAF project was about the grid connection, and were they sure that it would be ready by late 2027,” he said.
He said he had been told repeatedly that the National Grid had given assurances the work would be delivered on time.
“It’s a question I continued to ask every time we met to discuss the project, and every time I received the same assurances,” he said.
In recent months, he said, workers had begun raising concerns that the timeline was slipping.
“I had hoped it would only be a couple of months at worst, and that we would see the EAF operating in spring 2028,” he said.
“It now appears that that was too hopeful, and it is now moving into autumn 2028 before the EAF is operational.”
That timeline goes further than Tata’s own public position, which put the likely delay at six to eight months.
Rees called on the UK and Welsh governments to commit to getting the furnace running as quickly as possible and to minimise any further delay.
He said they “must get National Grid to guarantee this, and pay penalties if they fail to do so”.
The electric arc furnace is central to the future of steelmaking in Port Talbot, replacing the blast furnaces that closed in 2024 with the loss of around 2,000 jobs.
It is designed to make lower-carbon “green steel” by melting scrap in an electric furnace rather than burning coal — but it needs a major grid upgrade to power it.
“We all want to see steel once again being produced in Port Talbot, and it is imperative that this is done as soon as possible,” Rees said.
“Our town and workers deserve nothing less.”
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
GREEN STEEL: Port Talbot’s £1.25bn furnace could be delayed by up to eight months over power hold-up
Tata’s warning over the delayed grid connection.
‘Green power’ boost for Port Talbot as council green-lights major substation expansion
The substation upgrade central to powering the new furnace.
STEELWORKS FIRE: Tata says blaze restricted to ‘confined area’ of Cold Mill
A separate fire at the site earlier this month.
PORT TALBOT: Tata Steel sets out demands for next Welsh Government
The wider £1.25bn transformation and its impact on jobs.
GREEN STEEL: Port Talbot’s £1.25bn furnace could be delayed by up to eight months over power hold-up
Tata Steel’s switch to “green steel” at Port Talbot could be delayed by up to eight months, the company has warned — because of problems connecting its new furnace to the power network.
The £1.25bn electric arc furnace, which will make lower-carbon steel by melting scrap rather than burning coal, was due to be running by the end of 2027 — replacing the blast furnaces that closed two years ago with the loss of around 2,000 jobs.
But the project now hinges on a major upgrade to the electricity network — and that work has hit problems.
The new furnace will melt scrap steel using huge amounts of electricity, rather than the coal-fired blast furnaces it replaces, and securing enough power is critical to the switch.
Tata is working with the National Grid to build the infrastructure needed to feed it.
Port Talbot from above with the town’s steelworks in the distance (Image: Neath Port Talbot Council)The warning came from the company’s executive director and chief financial officer, Koushik Chatterjee, during a conference call with investors last month.
Chatterjee said major demolition work on the site had been completed and the project was progressing, but that “securing access to high power electricity is critical for our planned transition”.
He said the National Grid had “formally alerted us that their connectivity project is delayed”, and that Tata was in talks with the grid operator and the UK government to resolve the issue.
Asked how long the hold-up might be, he said: “Somewhat between, say, six months to eight months will certainly be there, maybe higher, after we have built the plant.”
In a statement, Tata said timelines for major projects “continue to evolve” as engineering, construction and infrastructure work progresses.
The company said it was discussing “potential adjustments to the commissioning timetable” with its partners to deliver the project “safely and as quickly as possible”.
Massive ladles and overhead cranes inside Port Talbot steelworks, as Tata prepares the site for Electric Arc Furnace installation. (Credit: Tata Steel)The scale of the grid work is considerable. The National Grid said it involved building two new substations, installing transformers and laying 2km of underground cables.
It said issues with ground conditions, along with environmental and planning considerations, had contributed to the delays, but that “good progress” was being made.
Much of that work has already been visible across Port Talbot. Earlier this year the council approved a major expansion of a substation described as “nationally important” to the steel project.
Motorists have also faced up to a year of roadworks as the underground electricity network is upgraded to carry the extra load.
The delay is the latest twist in a turbulent period for the works, which is partway through a £1.25bn transformation that has already cost thousands of jobs.
The setback comes during a difficult spell for the works. Days earlier, a major fire tore through a processing line at the site, leaving part of a building collapsed.
The company said the blaze had forced its Hot Strip Mill offline, with a restart planned for the middle of next week, and that it was routing some work through its Llanwern site to keep supplies flowing to customers.
Tata says the electric arc furnace remains central to its plans for steelmaking in Port Talbot — but for now, the question is when, not if, it will fire up.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
PORT TALBOT: Tata Steel sets out demands for next Welsh Government
The backdrop of thousands of jobs lost as the £1.25bn transformation presses ahead.
‘Green power’ boost for Port Talbot as council green-lights major substation expansion
The substation upgrade central to powering the new electric furnace.
STEELWORKS FIRE: Tata says blaze restricted to ‘confined area’ of Cold Mill
A major fire tore through a processing line at the site days earlier.
Global FeedBarclays empfiehlt National Grid zu kaufen – laut boerse.de hat die Bank einen „Buy“-Auftrag platziert.
- Die Empfehlung kommt aus einem etablierten Finanzinstitut.
- Details zu Preis oder Volumen fehlen noch, also bleibt Vorsicht geboten.
Wer an europäischen Infrastruktur‑Aktien interessiert ist, sollte die Entwicklung im Auge behalten.
GOWERTON: Sterry Road closure could be eased after structural report — but schools return to disruption next week
In a video update posted to social media on Saturday morning, the ward councillor said he had been liaising directly with a specialist building control manager at Swansea Council, and that a team had been commissioned to assess what remains of the Victorian building. He said the road could reopen fully or partially depending on what the report finds, and promised to update the community as soon as the findings were known.
The building was gutted by fire on Easter Monday afternoon, when crews from six fire stations — Gorseinon, Swansea Central, Morriston, Tumble, Llanelli and Swansea West — attended the blaze at the derelict three-storey structure at 1.13pm. The building’s roof collapsed during the fire, and the scale of the response required a full multi-agency attendance including structural engineers, the local highways department, National Grid, the gas board and South Wales Police alongside fire crews.
Cllr Jenkins also flagged growing concern about the impact on traffic when schools return after the Easter holidays next week. Sterry Road is one of Gowerton’s busiest streets — a main shopping artery for the village, home to local businesses including the Gowerton Fish and Chips shop immediately next door to the damaged building, and a key bus route connecting Swansea to Waunarlwydd, Gowerton and Gorseinon. Its continued closure has caused significant disruption to residents, businesses and commuters throughout the week, and the councillor warned that congestion was likely to worsen once the school run resumes.
The councillor thanked the fire brigade and police for securing the area and making it safe in the aftermath of the blaze. He also raised the possibility that the fire may have been started deliberately, saying that if that proved to be the case, those responsible had put the lives of firefighters, officers and the public at risk.
The former London and North Western Railway Club on Sterry Road, still bearing the LNW signage on its fire-ravaged facade. Image credit: Richard BondSouth Wales Police confirmed earlier this week that a formal fire investigation was not required. Sterry Road was closed while structural engineers assessed the building for collapse risk, with police warning at that stage that there was no timescale for reopening while the danger remained.
National Grid engineers were also called to the scene to deal with overhead power lines affected by the blaze. A spokesperson confirmed that as a precaution the electricity supply was disconnected and removed, and protective works were carried out to enable scaffolding to be erected safely. “All work has been focused on safety and all of our equipment has now been made safe,” the spokesperson said, adding that there was no wider impact on local electricity supplies.
Scaffolding has been erected across the front of the gutted structure as contractors assess what remains. Local residents say the section of road alongside the chippy side of the street remains inaccessible, though pedestrians have been able to use the opposite pavement near Top Fade barbers and Gowerton station during the closure.
The building has a troubled history well before Easter Monday’s blaze. It was previously damaged by fire in October 2020, with a new roof fitted in 2021 — the same roof destroyed in Monday’s fire. When the property was listed for sale in 2023 at £230,000, the seller declared that fire damage from the 2020 incident remained unresolved. The building was most recently in use as the home of the Community Cwtch charity shop, whose signage remains visible on the ground floor of the fire-damaged structure.
The former London and North Western Railway Club has been a landmark on Sterry Road for well over a century. Its derelict state and troubled recent history had already made it a concern in the community before Monday’s fire reduced it to a shell, with the loss of its roof — fitted just four years ago — leaving the Victorian walls exposed to the elements.
Cllr Jenkins said he would continue to liaise with the council’s building control team and would share the findings of the structural report with residents as soon as they were available. In the meantime, drivers are advised to avoid Sterry Road and use alternative routes.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
National Grid called in as work to make fire-damaged building safe continues on Sterry Road
The latest update before today’s announcement, including photos from the scene.
Road remains closed and building assessed for collapse risk after Easter Monday fire
How the situation developed in the days following the blaze.
Roof collapses as fire guts former LNW Club on Sterry Road — blaze now extinguished
Our original report on the Easter Monday fire.
