Baglan Energy Park: 'Catastrophic' if electricity stays off

Businesses have warned of the "catastrophic" consequences if power is cut off to the energy park where they are based.

Baglan Energy Park in Neath Port Talbot will be left with no electricity from Friday unless governments intervene.

One refrigerator firm has warned it would go out of business without power as it would lose £1,000 a day.

Aberavon Member of the Senedd David Rees said: "How many people will be out of work as a consequence of this?"

The park is home to a number of businesses and has the capacity to accommodate 3,000 jobs, according to Neath Port Talbot council.

The Welsh government has agreed to fund a new electricity supply after a private line collapsed in March, but that could take between 12 and 26 weeks.

The UK government said it was supporting the Welsh government in "delivering its devolved responsibility to ensure those impacted get the help they need".

Mr Rees said he hoped the official receiver "comes to a recognition of common sense" and keeps the power supply running until a solution is put in place.

Jonathan Ridd, a director of a number of businesses at the energy park, said company owners had fought the decision to turn the power off, but with little support from officials.

"Now we are on an energy park with no energy. It is so hard to believe... the consequences are catastrophic, really," he said.

"We have been fighting this now since day one because we know the impact and we have invested heavily into this park... it has been a huge struggle, a huge fight," said Mr Ridd.

He explained that diesel and gas-powered generators were being installed around the energy park as a contingency plan, as new Welsh government infrastructure plans were "a little bit too late".

"We find ourselves with a gap that we have to run off generators. It is unbelievable that we are in this position, and that it has got to this point," he said.

Steve Pepperell, director of K90 Raw and Hydro, worries he will lose £1,000 a day, as well as customers.

"We're a refrigerator business. We are out of business without electricity," he said.

"We've got 11 commercial freezers which are running 24/7, if any of those freezers lose any power for at least six hours, the stock in the freezers is not safe to sell."

Mr Pepperell said businesses have been repeatedly told generators would be put in place as a contingency, but he has not been made aware of them.

"Where these generators are I don't know. If these generators are not in place we're certainly not ready."

In a statement the UK government said: "Following Baglan Group's liquidation last year, the UK government covered the Official Receiver's costs to maintain the energy park's power supply.

"Now the Official Receiver has completed its work, all contingency planning on the site and support for businesses is the legal responsibility of the Welsh government."

The Welsh government said it has been working to explore all options to "prevent any disruption" to businesses which rely on the power supply.

"That work is ongoing and we will continue to do all we can, including in our discussions with UK government, to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of all those who are potentially affected," it added.