Tata Steel has said that its plants in Wales will pause operations for hours at a time to reduce its load on the energy grid during periods of peak demand this winter. The UK's largest steelmaker will be voluntarily slowing or pausing some of its UK operations for hours at a time on particularly cold evenings to help energy companies manage high consumer demand this winter.
In an arrangement called 'load management', Tata Steel says it responds to prices, with electricity changing hourly, and turns down or turns off some energy-intensive production lines such as rolling mills and coating lines, during peak periods.
The steelmaker said the Trostre site in Llanelli will pause its 'five stand' cold rolling mill and double reduction mill, as well as reduce the highest loads on its electro-tinning lines for short periods during the coldest spells this winter. In Llanwern in Newport, it will pause its cold rolling and pickling lines for some hours.
