Associated British Ports (ABP) is investing £2.2m in an environmentally-friendly new bulk terminal at the Port of Garston, providing the port with future growth opportunities.
With the port’s current stores at capacity, the construction of the new facility will provide an additional 3,950m2 worth of storage for bulk commodities such as wheat, rice, fertilizer and organic feed.
“Our investment at Garston is yet another example of ABP’s ongoing strategy to add state-of-the-art bulk stores across our ports in order to better serve our customers,” said Andrew Harston, short sea ports director,ABP. “ABP has built new stores in Ayr, Ipswich and now Garston and Teignmouth.”
“We are investing £6m to provide additional facilities to our short sea customers by the end of 2015, and it re-affirms our commitment to keep Britain trading,” he added.
Designed to minimize its impact on the environment, the terminal also has solar panels to provide a clean energy generating capacity of 200kw.The solar array is linked to the network powering the port estate, providing sustainable energy for customers and cutting the port’s carbon footprint.
Construction is being carried out by 3b Construction Ltd and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
ABP’s ports in the North West handle 180,000 tonnes of grain each year, while Garston and Silloth Ports handle close to 800,000 tonnes of cargo each year.