| Baglan Bay | |
|---|---|
 Baglan Bay from Mynydd Drumau | |
  Baglan Bay Location within Neath Port Talbot | |
| Community |
|
| Principal area | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Baglan Bay (Welsh : Bae Baglan) is a part of the Swansea Bay coastline and a district of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. Baglan Bay is also the name of a local government community. Baglan Bay is served by the M4 Motorway and the A48 road which traverse the northeastern edge of the area.
In the 19th century, coal, tinplate and pottery were exported from Baglan Pill. [1] In 1963 BP (trading as British Hydrocarbon Chemicals, Ltd.) opened petrochemical plants at Baglan Bay, partly to benefit from the proximity of the BP oil refinery at Llandarcy, which could supply feedstocks.
The plants produced 125,000 tons of petrochemicals during the first year of operation. The main products were ethylene (50-60,000 tons a year), ethylene dichloride (64,000 tons), propylene, butadiene (5000 tons), and isobutylene. Several other companies built chemical plants at Baglan Bay. Forth Chemicals (a joint subsidiary of Monsanto and BHC), had a styrene monomer plant within the BHC site. The petrochemicals complex produced alcohols, styrene, olefins, and benzene from the mid-1960s, and vinyl chloride monomer and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from the early 1970s. By 1968, BP Baglan Bay was one of the largest petrochemical sites in Europe, employing 2500 workers at its peak in 1974. Other companies with plants at Baglan Bay included W. R. Grace (polybutenes) and Pfizer. [2] [3]
However, market changes led to the gradual closure of the facility between 1994 and 2004. [4] There were concerns about the incidence of cancer and mortality near the Baglan Bay petrochemical works. [5]
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. [6] 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, [7] headquarters for Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, and headquarters for Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council's service response centre. [8]
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. [9] 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. [10]
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. [11] 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. [12] Scottish and Southern Energy completed the acquisition of the Abernedd Power Company in May 2009
Port Talbot is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately eight miles from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south east of the town. It is one of the biggest steelworks in the world, but has been under threat of closure since the 1980s. The population was 31,550 in 2021, comprising about a fifth of the 141,931 population of Neath Port Talbot.
Petrochemicals are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as maize, palm fruit or sugar cane.
Neath is a market town and community situated in the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,258 in 2011. Historically in Glamorgan, the town is located on the River Neath, seven miles east-northeast of Swansea.
Neath Port Talbot is a county borough in the south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county borough borders Bridgend County Borough and Rhondda Cynon Taf to the east, Powys and Carmarthenshire to the north; and Swansea to the west.
Swansea Bay is a bay on the southern coast of Wales. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan, River Kenfig and Clyne River flow into the bay. Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel experience a large tidal range. The shipping ports in Swansea Bay are Swansea Docks, Port Talbot Docks and Briton Ferry wharves.
Briton Ferry is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, llan, is protected from the wind, awel. Alternatively, Sawel may be a derivative of Saul, St Paul's earlier name. He once landed at Briton Ferry. An alternative Welsh name unused today is Rhyd y Brython, a direct translation of Briton Ferry. The Normans referred to the River crossing as La Brittonne and Leland in 1540 as Britanne Fery.
Aberavon is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Port Talbot, covering the central and south western part of the town. Aberavon is also the name of the nearby Blue Flag beach and the parish covering the same area.
Baglan is a village in Wales, adjoining Port Talbot, named after Saint Baglan. It is also a community and ward in the Neath Port Talbot county borough. In 2001, the population was 6,654. rising to 6,819 in 2011.
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council is the local authority for the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, one of the 22 principal areas of Wales. The council was controlled by the Labour Party from its creation in 1996 until 2022, when Plaid Cymru and a group of independent councillors agreed to share power.
Sandfields is a mainly residential district of Port Talbot, Wales. The area is located in South Wales on a narrow coastal plain between Mynydd Dinas and the sea. The M4 motorway, A48 trunk road and South Wales Main Line run nearby. The area includes a council estate, industrial areas and a seaside resort at Aberavon Beach.
Llandarcy is a village near Neath in the Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales, and was the site of the first oil refinery in the United Kingdom. It was originally designed as a garden village to house the workers for the BP refinery built between 1918 and 1922. The village is near junction 43 of the M4 motorway.
Baglan Bay power station is a disused 525MWe gas-fired power station situated on Baglan Moors just west of Port Talbot in Wales.
Crymlyn Burrows is an area in Wales to the east of Swansea city centre, and south of Crymlyn Bog. It is bounded by Jersey Marine Beach to the south and the River Neath to the east. The land west of Baldwin's Crescent falls within the City and County of Swansea and from Baldwin's Crescent eastwards falls within Neath Port Talbot. The area northwest of the Fabian Way contains a small settlement at Elba Crescent and Baldwins Crescent, and areas of industry and commerce.
Salt End or Saltend is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, in an area known as Holderness. It is situated on the north bank of the Humber Estuary just outside the Hull eastern boundary on the A1033 road. It forms part of the civil parish of Preston.
The A4241 Port Talbot Peripheral Distributor Road is a distributor road serving Port Talbot, Wales.
The Baglan electoral ward includes the communities of Baglan and Baglan Bay, in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. Baglan falls within the parliamentary constituency of Aberavon.
Kumho Petrochemical Co., Ltd. is a multinational chemical company based in South Korea, with headquarters in Seoul. It was founded in 1970 when Kumho Group struggled to secure raw materials for its bus and tire businesses. Kumho Petrochemical has a global market leadership in the manufacturing of synthetic rubbers with the world's largest production capacity based on SBR and BR by IISRP 2012. It focuses on synthetic rubbers, synthetic resins, specialty chemicals, electronic chemicals, energy, building materials and advanced materials as its core business.
The electoral ward of Aberavon electoral ward includes the communities of Baglan and Baglan Bay, in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. Baglan falls within the parliamentary constituency of Aberavon.
The Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro, or simply the Swansea Bay Metro is a proposed enhancement of railways, buses and active travel around the Swansea Bay and South West Wales areas of South Wales. The project could take up to 10 years to complete.
