For more than half a century the furnaces at Steve Keeton’s factory in Wigan have been used to melt and draw glass fibre used in wind turbines, electric car parts and construction. Now the prospect of surging power prices and supply disruptions may force it to shut permanently.
The threat of closure at Electric Glass Fibre UK is real despite strong demand for its products. The cost of keeping its furnaces running is set to rise by an unaffordable 300 per cent next April, as a result of soaring energy bills. There is also a risk that power will be rationed this winter if the stand-off with Russia deepens gas supply shortages across Europe.
Disconnection — even for just a few hours — would cause lasting damage and “cost tens of millions of pounds to repair”, said Keeton, managing director at the 57-year-old factory in north-west England which has been owned by Japan’s Nippon Electric Glass since 2016.