Baglan Bay
Encyclopedia
Baglan Bay is a part of the Swansea Bay
coastline and a district of Neath Port Talbot
county borough, Wales
. The area currently has no inhabitants and is entirely occupied by industrial
and commercial
developments. Baglan Bay is also the name of a local government community
coterminous with the Baglan Bay district. However, Baglan Bay does not have its own community council
. Baglan Bay is served by the M4 Motorway
and the A48 road
which traverse the northeastern edge of the area.
, tinplate and pottery
were exported from Baglan Pill. 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.
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 (0.7284348 km²) business park, the Baglan Energy Park. Businesses locating at the park benefit from low cost electrical energy
from the power station. 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 Sustainable Technologies Technium
, part of a network of business incubation centres across Wales; Hi-Lex Cable System Ltd; Remploy Ltd
; Montagne Jeunesse
; and headquarters for Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council's
service response centre.
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. Developer TCN UK is planning to develop a 57000 sq ft (5,295.5 m²). development called The Exchange which is expected to provide office space for 400 workers.
at the British Urban Regeneration Association Awards (BURA) in December 2007, and the Local Government Chronicle and Health Service Journal Sustainable Communities regeneration award in February 2008.
Scottish and Southern Energy completed the acquisition of the Abernedd Power Company in May 2009http://www.scottish-southern.co.uk/SSEInternet/index.aspx?id=19960&TierSlicer1_TSMenuTargetID=1366&TierSlicer1_TSMenuTargetType=1&TierSlicer1_TSMenuID=6
Swansea Bay
Swansea Bay is a bay on the Bristol Channel on the South Wales coast. Places on the bay include Mumbles, Swansea and Port Talbot. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan and Blackpill stream flow into the bay....
coastline and a district of Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....
county borough, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. The area currently has no inhabitants and is entirely occupied by industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
and commercial
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
developments. Baglan Bay is also the name of a local government community
Community (Wales)
A community is a division of land in Wales that forms the lowest-tier of local government in Wales. Welsh communities are analogous to civil parishes in England....
coterminous with the Baglan Bay district. However, Baglan Bay does not have its own community council
Community council
A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain.In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies...
. Baglan Bay is served by the M4 Motorway
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
and the A48 road
A48 road
The A48 is a major trunk road in Great Britain. It runs from the A40 at Highnam west of Gloucester to the A40 at Carmarthen. Before the construction of the M4 motorway and the first Severn Bridge in the mid 1960s it was the principal route into South Wales. For most of its journey through Wales,...
which traverse the northeastern edge of the area.
History
In the 19th century, coalCoal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, tinplate and pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
were exported from Baglan Pill. In 1963 BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
opened a petrochemical
Petrochemical
Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as corn or sugar cane....
plant
Chemical plant
A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transformation and or separation of materials. Chemical plants use special equipment,...
at Baglan Bay, partly to benefit from the proximity of the BP Oil Refinery
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
at Llandarcy
Llandarcy
Llandarcy is a village near Neath in Neath Port Talbot county borough, southwest Wales, and formerly the site of the UK's first oil refinery. The village, which lies near the Junction 43 of the M4 Motorway, was originally designed as a garden village to house the workers for the refinery, built by...
, which could supply feedstocks. By 1968, BP Baglan Bay was one of the largest petrochemical sites in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, employing 2500 workers at its peak in 1974. However, market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
changes led to the gradual closure of the facility between 1994 and 2004.
Baglan Energy Park
Welsh Development Agency
The Welsh Development Agency was a QUANGO and later an Assembly Sponsored Public Body established in 1976 to encourage business development and investment in Wales, to clear derelict land and to encourage growth of local businesses...
(WDA) and Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council is the local governing body for Neath Port Talbot. It is currently controlled by the Labour party, under the leadership of Councillor Alun Thomas, who succeeded Derek Vaughan when he became an MEP in May 2009....
. Baglan Bay power station
Baglan Bay power station
Baglan Bay power station is a 525MWe gas-fired power station situated on Baglan Moors just west of Port Talbot in Wales.-History:The power was built on the site of the former Isopropanol BP chemicals in September 2003, costing £300m. At the time of its development, it was considered the most...
, a 500 MW combined cycle
Combined cycle
In electric power generation a combined cycle is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem off the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy, which in turn usually drives electrical generators...
gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
power plant operated by GE Power Systems
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
was built and the remainder of the land was earmarked for a 180 acre (0.7284348 km²) business park, the Baglan Energy Park. Businesses locating at the park benefit from low cost electrical energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
from the power station. Several plots are now developed with tenants or with speculative office and industrial premises available to let. A paper mill
Paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
, Intertissue, part of the Italian paper tissue manufacturing company Sofidel Group, was completed in September 2006. The Energy Park is also home to the Sustainable Technologies Technium
Technium
Technium is the brand name of a business incubation scheme in Wales. The scheme provides tenants with office space, business support, fast telecom links and venture finance....
, part of a network of business incubation centres across Wales; Hi-Lex Cable System Ltd; Remploy Ltd
Remploy
Remploy Ltd is a government-owned company in the United Kingdom which provides employment and employment placement services for disabled people. It was established in 1945 under the terms of the 1944 Disabled Persons Act, and opened its first factory in Bridgend, Wales, in 1946...
; Montagne Jeunesse
Montagne Jeunesse
Montagne Jeunesse is a beauty-product business based in Baglan Energy Park, South Wales, UK and sold in 82 countries worldwide and listed in over 1000 international retail chains across all of the major global retailers...
; and headquarters for Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council's
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council is the local governing body for Neath Port Talbot. It is currently controlled by the Labour party, under the leadership of Councillor Alun Thomas, who succeeded Derek Vaughan when he became an MEP in May 2009....
service response centre.
New facilities are under construction for Shield Medicare Ltd (a subsidiary of US sanitation supply company Ecolab
Ecolab
Ecolab, Inc. is a St. Paul, Minnesota based sanitation supply company founded in 1923.The company provides sanitation and pest control supplies, foodservice equipment repair and parts, food safety services and consulting to restaurants, hospitals, food and beverage plants, laundries, schools,...
) and the University of Glamorgan’s
University of Glamorgan
The University of Glamorgan is a university based in Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales with campuses in Treforest, Glyntaff, Merthyr Tydfil, Tyn y Wern and Cardiff...
Hydrogen research and demonstration centre. Developer TCN UK is planning to develop a 57000 sq ft (5,295.5 m²). development called The Exchange which is expected to provide office space for 400 workers.
Awards
Baglan Energy Park won an award for best practice in regenerationUrban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
at the British Urban Regeneration Association Awards (BURA) in December 2007, and the Local Government Chronicle and Health Service Journal Sustainable Communities regeneration award in February 2008.
Future plans
A wholly owned BP company, Abernedd Power Ltd, has proposed a further two Natural Gas fired power stations with a total generation capacity of 870 MW of electricity. The scheme has reached the planning stage. Construction is 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. St. Modwen acquired 1050 acres (4.2 km²) of BP owned land in April 2009 with a view to developing the land for employment-led purposes.Scottish and Southern Energy completed the acquisition of the Abernedd Power Company in May 2009http://www.scottish-southern.co.uk/SSEInternet/index.aspx?id=19960&TierSlicer1_TSMenuTargetID=1366&TierSlicer1_TSMenuTargetType=1&TierSlicer1_TSMenuID=6