£800,000 in Government grants has been awarded to five Welsh Freeport projects. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has awarded £3.3 million in Site Accelerator Grants to 16 projects in total across the UK.
The Site Accelerator Grants will provide short-term, targeted funding to projects across the UK’s network of Industrial Strategy Zones (ISZs), helping them resolve the practical and technical challenges that must be addressed before major development can begin.
The Welsh projects awarded funding are:
- Celtic Freeport / Criterion Quay, Pembroke – £213,000 – Technical and commercial assessments to build a viable business case for floating offshore wind O&M infrastructure.
- Celtic Freeport / Talbot Wharf, Port Talbot — £265,000 — Land remediation works to improve the viability of development sites for future floating offshore wind supply chain occupiers.
- Celtic Freeport / Port Talbot Marine Infrastructure — £160,000 — Feasibility and design work for refurbishing two jetties to support future import/export activity.
- Anglesey Freeport / Highway Assessment — £162,000 (split with next project)— Assessment of highway upgrades needed to meet planning requirements and unlock long-vacant development sites.
- Anglesey Freeport / Grid Capacity Assessment — Comprehensive grid study across multiple tax sites to accelerate connections and support renewable energy integration.
Industrial Strategy Zones bring together Freeports and Investment Zones under a single, modernised framework and are central to delivering the Government’s modern Industrial Strategy. There are 22 Industrial Strategy Zones across all four nations of the UK – 17 of them are now open.
Rt Hon Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government: “From offshore wind manufacturing on the Humber to new clean energy facilities in Pembrokeshire, this backing for our freeports will generate real economic growth across the country. By tackling the barriers that developers face early on, we’re helping to unlock significant private investment and create thousands of good jobs in clean energy and advanced manufacturing.”
You can read more about all 16 projects here.
Investment in Scotland and Wales has been agreed jointly with the Scottish and Welsh Governments.