Goodwin Steel Castings (GSC) has been trading from Ivy House Road, Stoke-on-Trent for the past 138 years.  It is the founding site of GSC, a PLC which now provides 1,190 jobs across 12 different countries. GSC has plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and has already made major strides towards its goal by installing on-site renewables and phasing out carbon-intensive plant equipment. 

 The GSC foundry and surrounding facilities have an inherently large electricity consumption due to the high levels of heat and power required in their operational processes.  Electricity is the least carbon-intensive way to meet the energy demands of this site. However, the UK grid is still far away from full decarbonisation and, as such, a large part of the site’s carbon output comes from ‘brown’ energy supplied to the grid.  It is estimated that the installation of solar photovoltaics will reduce total electricity consumption by 587,200 kWh per annum, reducing carbon output by as much as 2565 tonnes over a 20-year lifetime.  To put this into perspective a tonne of CO2 is the equivalent of approximately two double-decker busses.

Solar photovoltaics are the chosen technology as they are a reliable, low-maintenance solution with a relatively small capital outlay, quick payback time and minimal impact on the surrounding area.  Wind energy has been considered, but the size of the required turbines would require significant space and the visual impact on the surrounding area would be substantial.

Particularly in the steel sector, production in the UK is at a significant disadvantage compared to its European or Asian counterparts. There are significant overheads in the UK as industrial electricity prices are 50% higher than in other major European economies. This, combined with the high UK business rates and the strong pound, has made UK steel exports less attractive. With the introduction of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, there is hope in remaining competitive, so long as they can achieve a sufficient carbon footprint.  Therefore, it is crucial to the GSC business strategy to not only reduce overheads but carbon output as well, ensuring business continuity and competitiveness.