£18.4m approved for port upgrades and business units in south west Wales

The money will come from the UK Government’s Freeport Programme in Wales. The awards remain subject to grant conditions and final funding agreements, including arrangements for monitoring spending and recovering money if conditions are not met.

The largest allocation is £7.2 million for the Port of Milford Haven’s Criterion Quay scheme at Pembroke Port.

This will contribute to the first phase of work to restore marine infrastructure, provide additional berthing for vessels and create 1.7 hectares of space for storing and handling floating offshore wind equipment.

Associated British Ports will receive £5 million towards a scheme at Talbot Wharf in Port Talbot to make 9.1 hectares available for businesses supplying the floating offshore wind industry.

A further £4.2 million has been approved for Neath Port Talbot Council’s Harbourside project, contributing to an £8.4 million scheme to build six business units at Waterside Innovation Park.

Ledwood’s quayside upgrade in Pembroke Dock has been allocated £2 million to improve access from the water and support the manufacture and handling of floating offshore wind components.

The funding is intended to prepare sites and infrastructure for development, with the aim of attracting further private investment.

Celtic Freeport chair Chris Martin said: “These four projects will deliver the infrastructure needed to unlock investment, support high-quality jobs and accelerate economic growth across south west Wales.

“We are now moving from planning into delivery, working with our partners to turn the Freeport’s ambitions into tangible benefits for businesses and communities.”

Welsh Government Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy Adam Price said the investment would help address the gap in productivity between Wales and the rest of the UK.

“Economic growth depends on having the right infrastructure in the right places,” he said.

“These projects will help unlock sites for investment, support the development of new industries and strengthen Wales’s position in the growing clean energy economy.”

Welsh Secretary Stephen Kinnock said: “The UK Government’s investment in Wales’s two freeports will deliver thousands of new jobs, drive opportunity and generate economic growth into the future.”

Public-private partnership

The Celtic Freeport is a public-private partnership led by Associated British Ports, Neath Port Talbot Council, Pembrokeshire County Council and the Port of Milford Haven.

Its wider plans cover floating offshore wind, hydrogen, sustainable fuels, carbon capture and storage, cleaner steel production and lower-carbon freight transport.

The partnership forecasts that the freeport could attract £8.4 billion in investment and create 11,500 jobs. Those projections relate to the wider freeport programme rather than the four projects covered by this funding announcement.