Space technology might not be the first thing people associate with the south coast of Wales. But at Aberthaw, on the edge of the Severn Estuary, a new idea is taking shape – one that could connect the site’s industrial past with a future defined by clean energy, circular innovation and even lunar research.
The former coal power station is now the focus of a major redevelopment led by CCR Energy. Our plan is to transform it into a hub for low-carbon innovation and, through a partnership with the Open University, to explore how its vast reserves of pulverised fuel ash could be used to simulate lunar dust. The project could see Aberthaw become home to the UK’s first Earth and Space Innovation Hub.
A feasibility study, supported by the Welsh Government’s SMART Flexible Innovation Support programme, is currently assessing whether the site’s 18 million tonnes of pulverised fuel ash could be repurposed for space research. The ash, a by-product from decades of coal generation, covers almost half the site. Once seen as waste, it is now being examined as a potential material for creating a lunar-like environment where space-designed technologies could be tested.
For me, this partnership with the Open University is one of the most exciting examples yet of how South East Wales can lead the way in advanced technology. It shows what can happen when we look again at what we already have – our geography, our industrial legacy, our academic strengths – and re-imagine how they can serve new industries.
Aberthaw’s location alongside the Severn Estuary, which has the second-highest tidal range in the world, makes it an ideal place to explore the relationship between energy, the environment and space. The same gravitational pull that governs the tides also shapes the Moon’s surface – a reminder that the challenges of decarbonisation, resource management and planetary exploration are all connected.
Our work at CCR Energy is about turning those connections into opportunity. The Aberthaw site will bring together research, development and commercialisation in clean energy, circular economy and advanced engineering. The feasibility study with the Open University fits perfectly within that vision, using science and sustainability to drive innovation that benefits both Earth and space.
The idea of a circular economy runs through everything we’re doing. The ash mountain at Aberthaw may hold value not only for lunar simulation but also for sustainable construction materials or even rare-earth extraction – resources that are vital to modern manufacturing and renewable technology. Across South Wales, we have similar industrial by-products and disused sites that could be part of a new, low-carbon industrial ecosystem.
Bringing academia, industry and government together is key to making that happen. CCR Energy works closely with Cardiff Capital Region, Welsh Government, local authorities and universities to develop the skills and partnerships needed to grow these industries. One of the initiatives we’re proud of is the Aberthaw Academy, an interactive bilingual platform that introduces school pupils to renewable energy and sustainability. It’s about showing young people that there are exciting careers waiting for them in their own region, whether in clean energy, advanced engineering or space technology.
Our timeline is ambitious but achievable. We expect to submit a planning application for the site within two years, with remediation work to follow. In parallel, we are already working on small-scale demonstration projects, collaborations that can begin now and build momentum while the wider site takes shape. On the innovation front, we’re ready to go.
In five years, our aim is to have the first physical elements of the innovation hub established, with early research and development projects underway. The long-term goal is a site where research, manufacturing and supply chain activity can co-exist and where the technologies developed here can be exported around the world.
If the work at Aberthaw succeeds, it could signal something bigger for South East Wales: a region that once powered an industrial revolution finding its place at the forefront of a technological one. From coal to cosmos, this is about using what we have – our skills, our landscape and our ingenuity – to build something entirely new.
Dr. Bettina Bockelmann-Evans talks about this and more in the Cardiff Capital Region podcast episode Space Innovation: South East Wales at the Frontier. Listen to the podcast here.
