Gas power plant could create 150 jobs in Swansea
THE company behind plans for a new £100m gas-fired power station in Swansea, with the capacity to power 150,000 homes, will launch a public consultation exercise later this month.
Abergelli Power – which is owned by energy giant Drax Power – is proposing to build a rapid-response gas power station on land at Abergellli Farm, south of Felindre, in an investment which, if approved, would create 150 new jobs during a two-year construction period and 15 permanent jobs once operational.
The proposed open-cycle gasturbine (OCGT) power station would produce up to 299 megawatts of electricity.
It is intended to be able to be up and running quickly to provide back-up power to the National Grid during periods of peak demand, to support the growing number of renewable and lowcarbon energy sources.
As a rapid-response and flexible power station, it would not be operational all the time – it would be producing power for up to a maximum of 2,250 hours in a given year.
Local people were originally consulted on proposals for the power station in 2014, but the project was put on hold in 2015 due to market uncertainty. The project is now under the new ownership of the British energy company Drax Group and is once again being taken forward.
As the capacity of the power station is more than 50 megawatts (therefore not a devolved Welsh Government matter), the scheme is classified as a nationally significant infrastructure project, which means a Development Consent Order application will need to be submitted to the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark, who will make a decision on whether to give the plans the goahead.
Subject to the public consultation, planning process and market conditions, the power station could begin energy production in 2022 and would be operational for 25 years.
Chief executive of Drax Power Andy Koss said: “As a result of what was learned during the consultation undertaken in 2014 and other studies, we have made a number of changes to the original proposals. For example, the cable for the electrical connection has been put underground instead of having an overhead line; we have selected an access route from the B4489 to the west of the site; and reduced the number of stacks from five to one.
“We are looking forward to sharing our latest plans at the public exhibitions next month and hearing what local people think about them before we finalise the scheme and submit a Development Consent Order application.”
The consultation will run from January 16 to February 19.
Abergelli Power will also be holding public consultation events from February 7-10 at Lllangyfelach, Clydach, Tircoed and Felindre.