PLANS for a new multi-million pound industrial research facility have been approved by Neath Port Talbot Council.
The facility, named the South Wales Industrial Transition from Carbon Hub, or SWITCH building, will be located in the Harbourside area of Port Talbot as part of the Swansea Bay City deal.
Its approval now gives the green light for a £20m facility to be built by Morgan Sindall Construction, where it will serve as a purpose-built research centre for de-carbonising the metal and steel industry.
It will be based on a brownfield parcel of land near Port Talbot Dock in an area described as having “excellent infrastructure links” nearby, such as Port Talbot Parkway Station and the M4 motorway.
The project was approved by Neath Port Talbot Council officers as part of their delegated decisions made between March 3 and April 14, 2025.
Once completed, plans say the building will contain a number of facilities such as workshops and welding zones, with mechanical testing zones and laboratory space, as well as offices, reception and breakout spaces for staff.
The plans read: “The new facility is a collaborative innovation centre working with academia, namely Swansea University as a key stakeholder to help end users from the steel industry to decarbonise the steel industry towards a net zero carbon future.
“The core theme of the SWITCH (South Wales Industrial Transition from Carbon Hub) programme is to assist decarbonisation of the steel and metals industry, to strengthen collaboration between industry and academia and to future proof the steel and metals industry in Wales and the UK.
“The construction will consist of a mix of office space, laboratories, research and production area, storage areas and external works.”
The project will be led by Neath Port Talbot Council in partnership with Swansea University.
In terms of the proposed number of employees there could eventually be a total of 95 workers based at the site.
It comes just months after permission was given to Tata Steel to progress plans by for a new £1.25bn electric arc furnace to be built at the Port Talbot Steel works site.
It also comes less than a year after the closure of the two blast furnaces at Port Talbot’s steelworks site, which resulted in the loss of around 2,000 jobs.
