The Welsh Government has spent millions maintaining and reconnecting power to Baglan Energy Park since the collapse of its power station.
The total cost to the Welsh Government has reached £6m to maintain supply and set up a new electricity network at the 180-acre park based in Port Talbot after businesses faced having their power supply cut off.
Baglan Operations, which was the park's sole electricity supplier via a private wire network, went into compulsory liquidation in March last year.
The on-site gas-fired plant continued to supply power to firms on the industrial estate through connection to the National Grid, after it stopped generating power in 2020.
The Welsh Government contracted Western Power Distribution to build a new electricity network.
It invested over £4m to support Western Power Distribution to design and build replacement electricity networks.
The investment allowed Western Power, as a local licensed distribution network operator, to accelerate the process of building a new network – which would have initially taken between 18 months to two years to build.
The new electricity connection, directly powered through the National Grid, are now complete.
The Welsh Government said most businesses and services that were reliant on the private wire network are now successfully connected to the grid. The remaining businesses will be switching over in the next few weeks
While the new distribution network was paid for by the Welsh Government, it will not recover any costs associated with building the new network.
Distribution fees will be fees paid for by the companies as part of their regular supplier bills. These are fees for ongoing maintenance of the regulated Western Power Distribution network.
The Welsh Government said the intervention protects businesses that would have been impacted by the loss of power, potentially jeopardising up to 1,200 local jobs, and the local environment due to the risk of floods.
The Government said the investment has also minimised the significant costs affected businesses would have had to meet to connect to the new network.
As well as financial support, it also provided practical support to businesses, including helping them to map and identify their maximum demand requirements, informing the design of the new electrical network.
It also worked closely with partners and affected organisations over more than a year to prevent and minimise the impact and disruption to the power supply for those that relied on the private wire network.
This included working with Neath Port Talbot Council, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, the UK Government, OFGEM, the Insolvency Service, the Official Receiver, Natural Resources Wales, and Western Power Distribution to find a solution.
Following its collapse, the power plant's operations and private wire network became the responsibility of an Official Receiver from the UK Government’s Insolvency Service, who were tasked with winding down operations.
The Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart provided an indemnity to the Official Receiver that same day to enable him to carry out his statutory duties in accordance with insolvency legislation.
At the end of 2021, the UK Government’s Official Receiver announced it would be shutting down the private wire network in mid-January 2022 - months ahead of the date when firms were scheduled to be connected to the new network.
This devolved government argued this would have meant businesses, services and infrastructure on the park having to bridge the gap in supply themselves with costly generators and a risk of diesel power failing in a storm event.
It said it undertook extensive discussions with BEIS Ministers and the former Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart to try and avoid the energy supply from being shut off before a new network was established.
The UK Government maintained it had no power to prevent the supply from being switched off.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “Any contingency planning has always been the responsibility of the Welsh Government. The UK Government is continuing to support the Welsh Government in delivering its responsibility to ensure those impacted on the Baglan Energy Park get the help they need.
“The Official Receiver and liquidator has acted in line with his statutory duties at all times and the court dismissed the applications brought by the Welsh Government and others earlier this year.”
The Welsh Government challenged the decision in a high court with Dŵr Cymru, Neath Port Talbot Council and Sofidel, the largest company on the Energy Park, but lost its legal bid.
The judge dismissed the application but directed that the power supply be maintained until 18 April 2022 for Dwr Cymru and Neath and Port Talbot Council.
Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething said: "I am pleased to have had the opportunity to visit Baglan Energy Park to meet some of the businesses impacted by more than a year of uncertainty around their energy supply. There is no doubt this has been a very stressful and uncertain time for them.
"When the UK Government refused to act, the Welsh Government intervened. If we had not acted then, serious long term harm could have been caused.
"The action we have taken came at significant cost to the Welsh Government. However, I am confident that it was time and money well spent. We have been able to successfully avoid the risk of major job losses, flood incidents and potential environmental pollution."
He added: "This has been an incredibly frustrating time. It is staggering that the UK Government actively opposed our action in the courts to protect jobs, the environment, and the health of tens of thousands of people. In taking this action, the Welsh Government stood up for the people of Wales. This is yet another great example of devolution in action."
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