The criminal destruction of Aberthaw – a Lesson for Wales

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The report by Sion Barry on walesonline, 5 February, indicates that criminal proceedings should be undertaken, against individuals involved in the tendering process for the demolition of Aberthaw B Coal Power Station. I append to your report the contents of an unanswered letter sent to the Power Station manager and others in 1999, which should serve as a warning and a lesson to those politicians plastering Wales with wind turbines, solar panels, battery parks and the like. The thousands of acres despoiled by intermittent ‘renewables’ will NEVER be remediated. The report, abbreviated, reads:

Cardiff Capital Region faces demand for millions after bungling the award of a massive demolition

‘The Cardiff Capital Region is facing the prospect of having to pay millions of pounds in damages following a successful legal challenge over how a lucrative £30m contract to demolish Aberthaw Power Station was awarded. The former coal-powered station, and its 500 acres of land overlooking the Bristol Channel in the Vale of Glamorgan, was acquired from energy giant RWE in 2022 for £8m by the city region – which is made of the 10 local authorities of south-east Wales , which includes Cardiff Council. The acquisition was financed from the region’s £1.2bn City Deal, with funding also set aside for the demolition of the power station and remediation work.

Following the acquisition the city region created a separate legal entity to oversee the Aberthaw project – CCR Energy Ltd – with long term plans to transform the site into a major hub for renewable energy project. Following a public procurement exercise the contract to demolish the power station was awarded to industrial demolition specialist firm Erith. The contract opportunity was brought to market on behalf of the city region by Cardiff Council, but they were not involved in the decision making process to award it.

Erith began work last February with a projected completion date of March, 2027. However, a legal challenge into how the contract was awarded was subsequently lodged by losing bidder, Brown and Mason Group (BMG). On its website legal firm 11KBW said its KC Joseph Barratt and Ben Mitchell have been successful in that legal challenge on behalf BMG. 11KBW added: “In the pre-trial review on 31 January 2025 Cardiff Council abandoned its defence of the proceedings and conceded liability, causation and sufficiently serious breach.”

The firm said proceedings have now moved to the quantum stage, with its client’s claim valued in excess of £10m – although that doesn’t mean that will be the amount paid. The city region has been asked to clarify, regardless of the final amount, whether it would ultimately be liable and if there is any insurance cover in place. It has also been asked to clarify if there could be any implications for its City Deal, including what remains to be invested. The £1.2bn City Deal was funded by both the UK and Welsh governments. While the lion’s share (£734m) went to the South Wales Metro rail electrification project, that still left nearly £500m to invest in projects across the region, which have included £50m into an equity investment fund and £50m into its Northern Valleys programme. As of last year some £50m had yet to be deployed. The city region last year became a statutory body. On its website 11KBW claims the breach of duty in the proceedings (now conceded) were “extremely wide ranging”, including:

Unlawful changes being made to the award criteria during the course of the procurement;

A very significant number of breaches of duty in the evaluation of bids, including manifest errors and failures to apply the published award criteria;

Failure to create or retain lawful or transparent records of the evaluation;

Apparent bias in the conduct of the evaluation;

Failing to disqualify the preferred bidder on grounds of its failure to meet a number of deadlines and other mandatory requirements;

Unlawful negotiation with the preferred bidder after the expiry of the tender deadline;

A spokesman for the Cardiff Capital Region said: “Liability has been admitted in respect of a procurement challenge by an unsuccessful bidder in relation to the demolition of the former coal-fired Aberthaw Power Station. As this is currently the subject of ongoing legal proceedings (including any outcome on damages), until that process is concluded, we are unable to comment further.”

In March, 2023 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined Erith, along with nine other firms, who included BMG, collectively nearly £60m for colluding on prices through illegal cartel agreements when submitting bids in competitive tenders for contracts.’

On 25 October 1999, I wrote to the Station Manager at Aberthaw. ‘I am writing as regards the two tips officially classed as “toxic waste” at Aberthaw Power Station. By the terms of their 25-year lease, the CEGB promised to restore Pleasant Harbour, the Leys, Gileston Beach and the Golf Course to their original condition upon the closure of the generating station. The expected life of the National Power Station (Aberthaw A) is now possibly less than five years, but there is no evidence of a home being found for the millions of tons of ash deposited upon the former foreshore. The (Glamorgan) Heritage Coast can then be extended as far as Penarth in future, with the removal of these eyesores. What are the plans for the restoration of this once beautiful piece of coastline? The original lease expired years ago. The 16th-century Marsh (Castle) House, Thaw House, the ancient port and several medieval buildings were covered by the site, but I am also interested in the large mound known as Twyn Llywelyn. Was it excavated at all?‘ (-my bold type added)

There was no answer, surprise, surprise, so I also sent the letter to around 20 politicians, with a similar response – ‘… could you please follow up as a matter of political expediency rather than allow the company to ignore its responsibilities?‘ I had worked on Aberthaw B construction, and at that time one could see across the Channel to Somerset, when sitting outside the wonderful 14th-century thatched Blue Anchor pub in East Aberthaw. The Thaw was rechannelled to accommodate the power stations, but there were wonderful shallow pools along the sandy remains of the beach, warmed by the sun and ideal for children to play in. All the pebbles had been exported, then later crushed into lime for sailing ships to take to Somerset, returning with livestock.

The tide used to go far up the Thaw Valley, where I discovered the remains of a medieval chapel above the old high-water mark, on the site of Saint Tathana’s 6th-century hermitage. Thousands of Chinese solar panels are planned for this valley – utterly pointless at night or in dull weather. So much for the legal requirement for remediation of the land – even more is being taken. A massive energy ‘park’, using outmoded lithium technology, has been approved for the coal power station sites. This has been, and is happening in hundreds of places throughout little Wales, in our leaders’ pathetic attempt to save the planet. Only Pembroke and the National Parks will be spared. Tourists will surely flock to see our deserted farms, fallen wind turbines, abandoned solar and battery parks, and the handling of thousands of lithium batteries will require the same expertise as handling unexploded bombs. The Chinese are moving away from lithium batteries for e-bikes and e-scooters in their domestic markets for safety reasons, but still exporting them to the West. Is there just one in the Senedd with the sense and courage to stop the permanent harm being done to Wales?

Terry Breverton