Associated British Ports (ABP), the UK’s leading and best-connected port operator, has today announced its ambitious plans for the Port of Newport, to support a new era of green growth for the port and the city of Newport.
Sustainability is at the core of ABP’s business, and this latest vision outlines the company’s ambitions for the Port of Newport to build on its classic port business to become a clean-manufacturing and logistics growth cluster, ready for the next industrial age.
ABP’s visionary plans centre around renewable energy, including a focus on harnessing wind and solar sources, linked to hydrogen electrolysis and e-fuels manufacturing plants. It is hoped that these facilities, along with carbon capture and heat networks, will underpin next-generation manufacturing and logistics, attracting a new cluster of businesses looking to future-proof their operations.
Development at the Port will also be connected to the rail network and marine logistics, with the ambition of hundreds of highly productive jobs created at the resulting Newport clean growth hub. This will create benefits right across the city and beyond.
Whilst the plan includes innovations to support businesses to future-proof and meet net zero targets, the classic port role will remain. ABP will also be investing in reconfigured access, new cargo-handling equipment, high-efficiency warehousing and ready-to-go development sites, and all with cutting-edge IT.
Ashley Curnow, Divisional Port Manager, ABP, commented: “This masterplan is a bold step towards a sustainable future. Newport has a history of reinvention, and we are embarking on a journey to position both the port and the city of Newport as key players in the evolution towards a decarbonised economy.
“The masterplan foresees a decade-long investment boom, which will help provide superb service to customers, as well as delivering ABP’s commitment, as set out in our sustainability strategy – Ready for Tomorrow – to get our own operations to net zero by 2040.”
The masterplan outlines three main objectives to create:
1. A thriving, decarbonised industrial logistics port
2. A clean growth hub
3. Well-being for current and future generations.
Cllr. Jane Mudd, Leader of Newport County Council said: “This vision has the potential to shape a brighter and greener future for the city of Newport.
“We look forward to working with ABP to deliver the ambitions of the masterplan, bringing benefits to the City of Newport and maximising the opportunities of a zero-carbon economy.”
Newport is the latest of ABP’s five ports in South Wales to have undergone an extensive masterplanning process – previously Barry and Port Talbot – and as part of ABP’s wider Vision for Wales.
Ashley Curnow added: “We are at the start of a transformative journey for Newport. ABP is optimistic about the Port at Newport’s potential for a new era of innovative and productive growth.”
