British heavy industry sold out in the interests of Labour and EU policies of ‘Net-Zero’. And what the Hell is meant by Net Zero Teesside?
A slow and gradual betrayal that has taken over ten years to reach this point since the announcement in 2015 that the Redcar Steel Works was to close. To demonstrate exactly how much of a betrayal there has been of the old industrial region that stretched across North Yorkshire into Teesside, a quick glance at the extract from Wikipedia tells a sad story of the decline of heavy industry and jobs lost.
“The Teesside Steelworks was a large steelworks that formed a continuous stretch along the south bank of the River Tees from the towns of Middlesbrough to Redcar in North Yorkshire, England. At its height there were 91 blast furnaces within a 10-mile radius of the area. By the early 1990s, when No.4 furnace at Cleveland Iron closed, there was only one left on Teesside.
“Opened in 1979 and located near the mouth of the River Tees, the Redcar blast furnace was the second largest in Europe. The majority of the steelworks, including the Redcar blast furnace, Redcar and South Bank coke ovens and the BOS plant at Lackenby, closed in 2015.” There were job losses in the thousands.
Note the details, there were once “91 blast furnaces within a 10-mile radius of the area.” But then this was the media reporting from 2022 and 2023: “Redcar says goodbye to final part of Steelworks site.” June 29, 2023 “The site’s chimney stack, triple flare stack and gas holder were demolished on Thursday, marking the very end of what was once a staple of the Redcar skyline. The Redcar steelworks, which closed in 2015 following the liquidation of SSI UK, is being knocked down to prepare the ground for regeneration as part of the Teesworks project.
“There has been several demotions over the years, including back in October, where onlookers watched the 65-metre-high Basic Oxygen Steelmaking plant come down in what is believed to be one of the biggest explosive demolitions in the UK. The final iteration of the demolition – a goodbye to the proud history Redcar was built upon – saw the chimney stack as the last to fall.
“Iconic landmark Redcar blast furnace demolished after dominating Teesside skyline for decades. The 365ft (111m) high blast furnace at the former Redcar steelworks was levelled on Wednesday morning. Wednesday 23 November 2022.
“An iconic landmark of steelmaking in the North East of England has been demolished in an explosion. The 365ft (111m) blast furnace at the former Redcar steelworks – that had dominated the Teesside skyline for decades – was levelled on Wednesday morning. Crowds gathered to watch the 1970s-built structure crumble, against the backdrop of the North Sea. It closed seven years ago with the loss of thousands of jobs. It was flattened as part of an ongoing programme to clear the steelworks site.”
“Last of Redcar steelworks demolished for Teesworks site” 29 June 2023
“The final structures from a “landmark” steelworks have been demolished. Redcar’s power station buildings, including the gas holder and chimney, which provided electricity to the town’s former blast furnace, were brought down at 13:00 BST. They have been pulled down to make way for the Teesworks development.”
Where were the trade unions in all this? Even the mainstream media noted that, “It closed seven years ago with the loss of thousands of jobs.”
The Labour Party is supposed to be the long-established champion of the British working class, but the modern Labour Party is more interested in ‘Net Zero’ and ‘Climate Change’ than in defending the strategic industries of the UK and the livelihoods of British workers. It does not help to have clueless, career politicians like Ed Miliband and the Carbon Neutral zealots at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero pushing through their agenda against the interests of British industry.
Net Zero Teesside and Net Zero Teesside Power
“Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power) has today welcomed the news that Liberty Steel, based in Hartlepool, has started work on creating pipelines for the onshore and offshore infrastructure needed to transport CO2 from NZT Power to secure storage under the North Sea.
“The work, which will continue into the third quarter of 2025, has helped Liberty secure 30 new jobs. Liberty Steel, in partnership with Marubeni-Itochu Tubulars Europe Plc, Corinth Pipeworks and Eisenbau Kramer GmbH, are the selected contractors to provide the Linepipe for both the Onshore and Offshore elements of the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) – one of eight engineering, procurement and construction packages awarded by NEP/NZT Power with a combined value of around £4bn.
“Local businesses, like Liberty Steel Hartlepool, are essential to making NZT Power a reality said Ian Hunter, Managing Director of Net Zero Teesside Power. “We have selected world-class partners who have the experience and capability needed to deliver.” NZT Power could create and support more than 3,000 construction jobs and then generate 1,000 jobs during operations.
“Once operational, the combined cycle gas turbine electricity generating station could produce up to 742 megawatts of flexible, dispatchable low-carbon power – equivalent to the average annual electricity requirements of more than 1 million UK homes. Up to 2 million tonnes of CO2 per year will be captured at the plant, and then transported to secure subsea storage sites beneath the North Sea via infrastructure provided by NEP.”
Wow! Hartlepool based Libert Steel has now secured 30 new jobs! Compared that to how many thousands of former jobs were lost when all the Teesside steel works closed. The Labour government propaganda machine continues to pump out its version of the story.
“NZT Power today announced financial close and entry into the execution phase of what aims to be the world’s first gas-fired power station with carbon capture and storage. NZT Power expects to commence construction from mid-2025, with start-up expected in 2028.
“NZT Power will progress in parallel with the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), which also announced financial close and entry into the execution phase of the CO2 transportation and storage infrastructure to serve three initial carbon capture projects on Teesside as part of the East Coast Cluster. Building work on the two projects will be completed by nine leading engineering, procurement, and construction contractors across eight contract packages with a combined value of around £4bn.
“NZT Power could create and support more than 3,000 construction jobs and then generate 1,000 jobs during operations. Once operational, the combined cycle gas turbine electricity generating station could produce up to 742 megawatts of flexible, dispatchable low-carbon power – equivalent to the average annual electricity requirements of more than 1 million UK homes.
“Up to 2 million tonnes of CO2 per year will be captured at the plant, and then transported to secure subsea storage sites beneath the North Sea via infrastructure provided by NEP.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “For far too long, our industrial heartlands have been held back by 14 years of instability and low growth. Working people deserve better. Today’s investment is proof that this government is taking a different approach by putting growth first and investing in the industries of the future. That means thousands of jobs secured in the North East and across the UK for years to come. This is only the start.
“Our Plan for Change puts more money in working people’s pockets, secures home-grown energy and protects billpayers, so tyrants like Putin can’t attack the living standards of working people again.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “This investment launches a new era for clean energy in Britain – boosting energy security, backing industries, and supporting thousands of highly skilled jobs in Teesside and the North East. This is the Government’s mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower in action- replacing Britain’s energy insecurity with homegrown clean power that rebuilds the strength of our industrial heartlands.”
To add insult to injury, why is it that Chinese industry is being favoured over British industry? The recent mainstream media reports tell a damning story.
“Chinese steel will be used for a taxpayer-funded £4bn green power plant on the site of the former Redcar steelworks – sparking accusations of a ‘betrayal’ of British workers.”
A deal for 7,000 tons of construction steel has been agreed between Net Zero Teesside (NZT) and China’s Modern Modular Engineering and Construction Company (MMEC) – despite the same type of steel being available from suppliers, including state-run British Steel.
NZT receives government funding through Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and is backed by BP, Norwegian firm Equinor and French energy giant Total. It was first revealed to be considering Chinese steel in November, resulting in a huge backlash, particularly given the power station site’s location on part of the former Redcar steelworks in North Yorkshire, which shut in 2015.
It is understood that MMEC’s steel was preferred because it comes from an electric arc furnace and so meets green aspirations, whereas British Steel’s would be from the Scunthorpe blast furnaces.”
So much for the Labour government supporting British industry, British workers and the UK economy. Yet still the Labour government continues to trot out its publicity propaganda hailing the benefits of Net Zero, claiming it will boost new jobs while ignoring all the tens of thousands of jobs lost in recent decades when the steel works along the Tees down to Redcar were systematically closed down, demolished and cleared in pursuit of Net Zero.
There seems to be a total ignoring of the number of foreign-owned, multi-national companies being paid huge sums of British taxpayers’ money to undertake this work. Why do British firms not take the lion’s share of contracts? Or is it that the British heavy industry firms no longer exist?
Credits:
Main Image: By Stuart Kerr – Teesside Steelworks at night, 2009 (CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org).
Lower Image: By European Coal and Steel Community (CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org).
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