Associated British Ports (ABP) and px Group launch expression of interest from businesses to benefit from low-carbon infrastructure. Partners sought for more than 100-acre Clean Growth Hub for manufacturers and producers connected to the energy transition.  

Associated British Ports (ABP), the UK’s leading ports group, and px Group (px), the owner and operator of high-growth Saltend Chemicals Park, have today launched plans for the Clean Growth Hub at the Port of Barry in South Wales. 

The project aims to transform a large area of the operational port into an area of low-carbon, high-growth infrastructure investment. The site has in excess of 100 acres of development land earmarked for investee companies who are:

ABP and px share the vision of a thriving, sustainable industrial hub focused on the industries of tomorrow, creating jobs, mobilising inward investment and boosting local prosperity and opportunity. 

ABP’s Port of Barry already has significant low-carbon infrastructure in place and in development. The port currently has an operational 5 MW solar array, with further opportunity to scale up solar and wind power. ABP also has an ambitious partnership at the Port of Barry with Hynamics, an EDF Group subsidiary, to evaluate developing low-carbon hydrogen production and distribution to help reduce local industries’ CO2 emissions.  

Henrik L. Pedersen, CEO of Associated British Ports says:

“Ports are at the heart of the UK’s green energy transition. This development ensures that Barry will play a greater role as we look to deliver a lower-carbon future. Our vision is for ABP’s ports to be the green hubs which bring together progressive companies that can benefit from collective infrastructure and expertise.  

“Building on the proven relationship we’ve developed at Saltend, we are excited to partner with px again to identify suitable projects that will further support the energy transition. and deliver clean growth.”  

Geoff Holmes, CEO of px Group, says:

“We have a shared, transformational vision for ABP’s Port of Barry that has world-class, low-carbon companies at its heart, built on spacious brownfield land that can be developed immediately. We have a results-driven relationship with ABP, enabling billions of pounds of investment opportunity at  Saltend. We’re looking forward to working closely with them again as we transform the Port of Barry.” 

Port of Barry, ABP and px Group 

The Port of Barry is one of ABP’s portfolio of 21 ports around the coast of Britain. It was once the UK’s leading port for shipping coal and now is a growing location for the UK’s 21st century green energy transformation. A gateway for trade and industry into Cardiff, South Wales, and beyond, Barry is a key facility for the region’s chemical industry, handling liquid bulks for major companies including Dow Silicones. Barry also has considerable expertise in the handling of steel, scrap metal, containers, dry bulks, coal and aggregates. 

Today’s announcement is the next major step in ABP’s ‘Future Ports: Wales Vision’, which sets out an overarching vision for how our network of ports in South Wales – Swansea, Port Talbot, Barry, Cardiff and Newport – allow ABP and partners such as px to turn the challenges of decarbonisation and industrial transformation into hugely significant economic, social and environmental opportunities. 

The site will be operated and maintained by px Group, the company behind Saltend Chemicals Park on the Humber, which has attracted around £2 billion of investment since px purchased the site in 2018. Saltend is home to world-leading blue-chip companies on site, such as INEOS, Mitsubishi Chemicals, Vivergo and BP . Saltend is the location of the Hydrogen-to-Humber Saltend (H2H Saltend) project, a 600MW low-carbon hydrogen plant that recently received planning permission from the local authority, with its emissions captured and stored using carbon capture technology. Pensana’s rare earths project has also received planning permission to develop at Saltend.