The UK's Materials Processing Institute has taken delivery of the first components of an Electric Arc Furnace upgrade.
The research institute in the Green Steel Centre, Middlesbrough, has invested £2.9m to upgrade the furnace.
The seven-tonne furnace is the only research facility of its kind in the UK and plays a role in developing the technologies and processes that will enable the next generation of green steel production.
The upgraded EAF will provide a facility for developing, testing, and refining green steel technologies under realistic industrial conditions.
By bridging the gap between laboratory research and full-scale production, it will support the transition to scalable, sustainable, low-carbon steelmaking backed by existing secondary refining and casting capability to make almost any steel.
Work on this upgrade began more than 18 months ago with the evaluation of future requirements and the development of detailed technical specifications.
Three wagons of components arrived last week with three more due to arrive soon.
Major components—include the furnace body and platform, electrode masts and arms, control panels, charging systems, and hopper systems.
The new furnace is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of February 2026.
Initial dismantling will begin before Christmas, including the removal of refractory materials, the extraction hood, and the concrete roof.
The existing EAF will be taken out in January 2026, after which installation, cold and hot commissioning trials, and final production readiness testing will follow.
This project is supported with funding from Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), through the Foundation Industry Sustainability Consortium’s (FISC) EconoMISER programme.