Baglan Bay

Baglan Bay (Welsh: Bae Baglan) is a part of the Swansea Bay coastline and a district of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The area currently has no residents and is entirely occupied by industrial and commercial developments. Baglan Bay is also the name of a local government community coterminous with the area used by the industrial works and immediate coastline, and with no residents it has no community council. Baglan Bay is served by the M4 Motorway and the A48 road which traverse the northeastern edge of the area.

History

In the 19th century, coal, tinplate and pottery were exported from Baglan Pill.[1] In 1963 BP opened a petrochemical plant at Baglan Bay, partly to benefit from the proximity of the BP Oil Refinery at Llandarcy, which could supply feedstocks. By 1968, BP Baglan Bay was one of the largest petrochemical sites in Europe, employing 2500 workers at its peak in 1974. However, market changes led to the gradual closure of the facility between 1994 and 2004.[2]

Baglan Energy Park

Baglan Bay power station

Following the final closure of BP's Baglan Bay plant in 2004, the site was re-developed by BP, the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Baglan Bay power station, a 500 MW combined cycle gas turbine power plant operated by GE Power Systems was built and the remainder of the land was earmarked for a 180-acre (0.73 km2) business park, the Baglan Energy Park. Businesses locating at the park benefit from low cost electrical energy from the power station.[3] Several plots are now developed with tenants or with speculative office and industrial premises available to let. A paper mill, Intertissue, part of the Italian paper tissue manufacturing company Sofidel Group, was completed in September 2006. The Energy Park is also home to the Baglan Bay Innovation Center, the Sustainable Product Engineering Centre for Innovative Functional Industrial Coatings (SPECIFIC) project, Hi-Lex Cable System Ltd; Remploy Ltd; Montagne Jeunesse;[4] and headquarters for Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council's service response centre.[5]

New facilities are under construction for Shield Medicare Ltd (a subsidiary of US sanitation supply company Ecolab) and the University of Glamorgan’s Hydrogen research and demonstration centre.[6] Developer TCN UK is planning to develop a 57,000 sq ft (5,300 m2). development called The Exchange which is expected to provide office space for 400 workers.[7]

Awards

Baglan Energy Park won an award for best practice in regeneration at the British Urban Regeneration Association Awards (BURA) in December 2007,[8] and the Local Government Chronicle and Health Service Journal Sustainable Communities regeneration award in February 2008.[9]

Plans

A wholly owned BP company, Abernedd Power Ltd, proposed a further two natural gas-fired power stations with a total generation capacity of 870 MW of electricity. The scheme reached the planning stage. Construction was due to start in 2010 to meet a projected shortfall in power generation capacity in the UK and Wales within the next 4 to 6 years. However, a revised plan for a smaller power station of 450 MW was approved. SSE now own the project and have submitted a variation to the plans to enable them to build an open cycle gas turbine power station. [10] St. Modwen Properties acquired 1,050 acres (4.2 km2) of BP-owned land in April 2009 with a view to developing the land for employment-led purposes.[11] Scottish and Southern Energy completed the acquisition of the Abernedd Power Company in May 2009

Nearest places

Notes

  1. ↑ The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008
  2. ↑ BP Closes Final Manufacturing Plant at Baglan Bay
  3. ↑ Baglan Energy Park
  4. ↑ Baglan Energy Park - Existing Businesses
  5. ↑ Press Releases - 26 April 2007
  6. ↑ Baglan Energy Park - Projects Under Construction
  7. ↑ 400 job office development scheme for Port Talbot - Wales Online 5 August 2008
  8. ↑ NPT CBC - Press Release - Baglan Energy Park scoops top Regeneration Award
  9. ↑ NPT CBC - Press Release - Baglan Energy Park is leading the way in regeneration
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ WalesOnline - St Modwen to transform BP site at Baglan Bay

See also

External links

Coordinates: 51°36′30″N 3°50′30″W / 51.60833°N 3.84167°W / 51.60833; -3.84167

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