Baglan Energy Park: Electricity costs treble for firms on site

Electricity costs for firms have trebled as a dispute over their power supply goes through the courts, business owners say.

Units at Baglan Energy Park could have their plugs pulled from an insolvent private power station next week.

The temporary operators say they plan to recoup their £600,000 monthly costs as legal action continues.

The Welsh government has been told it can appeal against plans to disconnect supplies from 4 April.

Baglan Power Station opened in 2003 and provided a private electricity supply to businesses at Baglan Energy Park, in Neath Port Talbot.

The power station has not produced energy for a couple of years, but links the industrial estate and national grid.

Managers appointed by the insolvency service have trebled the price of electricity since the start of this year, say business owners.

The insolvency service said it had passed on increased wholesale energy costs to customers.

Their private connection to the power stations means they cannot change providers.

"We have no option other than to run with what we have been provided with," said Jonathan Ridd, who owns a number of units on Baglan Energy Park.

"It will come to a point that these heightened costs will put so much pressure on the business that it is going to affect cashflow, it is going to affect profitability, and the viability of actually running a business."

A letter to customers says the power station will recover its £600,000 monthly running costs from customers who extend their agreements beyond 1 April.

"When the power station has been decommissioned safely and there are minimal staff there, it is difficult to understand where that £600,000 is coming from," Mr Ridd said.

Since the power station operators went into receivership, work has begun to connect the park directly to the grid.

But it is not due to be completed until the end of May, with the current supply due to be switched off in April.

Mr Ridd said it was essential Western Power Distribution (WPD) accelerated the programme to connect businesses to the grid.

WPD has been asked to comment.

A court ruled that the power station's operators, appointed by the insolvency service, could begin disconnecting businesses from 4 April, but the Welsh government is planning to appeal this.

The largest employer on the industrial estate is Sofidel, a tissue manufacturer, which said it may have to lay off 320 staff if electricity is disrupted.

Sofidel said it had put measures in place including generators.

But the high number of generators means permission from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is required.

NRW has yet to issue a permit.

Construction firm owner Nigel Rees said the uncertainty was worrying.

"Are we going to be able to continue to trade here?" he said.

"How are we going to run an energy park on generators?

"With the rising costs, we are unsure how it will impact us," he said.

The estate is also home to Neath Port Talbot council's headquarters.

It is understood to have switched its own electricity from the private power station to the national grid in 2021, but did not respond to questions about the work or its cost.

The Welsh government said: "We have been granted leave to appeal the decision made.

"We will confirm our next steps in due course."