 landed last winter, to be regasified and sent on to Europe by pipeline as the continent resisted Vladimir Putin's attempt to throttle supplies. Yet in the coming decades, its role will change as the UK moves away from oil and gas and towards renewable sources of energy. If local business leaders get their way, Milford Haven will be invented as a powerhouse of hydrogen production, carbon capture and offshore wind power as part of the shift to net zero. 'Right now, we're sitting on the horizon of a new epoch in the waterway's history,' says Tom Sawyer, chief executive of the port of Milford Haven. 'It's a really big opportunity for us - and everyone here gets that.' The Haven is a key part of the 'South Wales Industrial Cluster', a grouping that also includes Swansea, Port Talbot and Newport. The area hosts industries as varied as steelmaking and paper production and accounts for one quarter of Wales' total carbon emissions and about 5pc of total UK emissions – meaning that if the country is to decarbonise, so must Milford Haven. The groundwork is already being laid for a major overhaul. RWE operates the Pembroke Power Station on the south side of the waterway. The facility is currently one of the largest and most efficient gas power stations in Europe. But within the next two years, bosses will have to make key decisions about its future. 'If you just carried on with business-as-usual, then effectively you would have to close on December 31, 2034,' says Roland Long, site manager of Pembroke Power Station. 'So you ask yourself, what are the options?'){kind=link}
The South Wales port that defied Putin’s energy war is leading a green revolution
Dozens of ships arrive each week in the Milford Haven Waterway, many bearing vast cargoes of crude oil and natural gas.
In one form or another, the Welsh port is a conduit for more than a quarter of Britain’s energy supplies.
It was here that shipment after shipment of liquified natural gas (LNG) landed last winter, to be regasified and sent on to Europe by pipeline as the continent resisted Vladimir Putin’s attempt to throttle supplies.
Yet in the coming decades, its role will change as the UK moves away from oil and gas and towards renewable sources of energy.