AN innovative, award-winning Gwent electronic components business says it may shift its factory if a £440m power plant is built on its doorstep.

US-owned Enron wants to build a 1,200 megawatt gas-fired power station next to a National Grid sub-station on 17 acres it owns at Rassau Industrial Estate, Ebbw Vale. Enron says 1,000 jobs will be created during the two years of construction and 75 permanent jobs and 70 contract positions will remain when it is completed.

Enron is awaiting a recommendation on planning from Blaenau Gwent council due next month and a Department of Trade and Industry(DTI) decision on its proposal.

Enron says its Gwent plant will have an annual budget of £20m for items such as support services and maintenance which, it claims, will create further jobs in the local economy. And it says it will spend £1m in the first year training local people for jobs followed by £100,000 a year in subsequent years.

But Coils UK, which leases a factory across the road from the proposed development site, is far from happy at the arrival of the power station.

The firm, which employs 96 people, produces electronic devices, such as solenoids used in VW, BMW, Jaguar, Porsche, Renault cars, Mars Electronics vending machines and Dyson washing machines for example.

Coils UK managing director Graham Hunter, (pictured) who recently met the Queen at a key Cardiff University innovation convention in Cardiff, says his firm may move. He told Business Argus: "We have experienced being alongside a site when it is under development. We were at Crumlin before we came here about five years ago and it was a miserable time.

"There is a very real possibility that we would give absolute priority to consideration of moving on (from Rassau) if the power station is built.

"We would have to assess the impact if it happens - it may be that we would find it impossible to stay here."

Mr Hunter said the firm, established for 12 years, is concerned at the proximity of the power station, 30 metres from their boundary fence and the visual impact of the proposed 25 metres high building which will be served by a 65 metre chimney. He said they also had concerns over noise, dirt and traffic during construction. Mr Hunter said Coils UK expects to treble its business in the next five years

boost its headcount from 96 to 170 and see turnover move from £2m to about £10m. He has suggested the former Corus site at Ebbw Vale would be a preferable location for the power station.

Blaenau Gwent borough council senior divisional manager development services Clive Murrin said: "The authority has been consulted upon an application made by Enron Europe for consent to build a gas fired power station which is being considered by the Department of Trade and Industry.

"It is presently anticipated that it will be considered in the August council (August 30). "Blaenau Gwent council is a consultee in this process. The Department of Trade and Industry will make the ultimate decision as to whether the development goes ahead. "Coils UK have written direct to the Department of Trade and Industry and, in accordance with procedures, the council has been informed of their objections.

"The concerns raised by Coils UK are being taken extremely seriously and will be brought to members' attention when the report is presented."

Enron says the power station will create badly needed jobs in an unemployment blackspot and provide low cost power to businesses on the estate and other customers.

A spokesman for Enron claims the National Grid says there is a need for more power generation in South Wales and Enron says it has consulted widely on its plans locally. He said: "We believe that the Rassau site is perfect for a power station of this type as it is in close proximity to existing gas and electricity supplies.

"The area is marked as suitable for industrial development in the borough council local plan and there is an available workforce in the immediate vicinity."

The spokesman said local businesses would benefit from cheap power from the plant. Noise and disturbance would be kept to a minimum during the two-and-a-half year construction phase.

He said the Corus site at Ebbw Vale was ruled out, after detailed assessment, due to its location in the heart of the town, the need to erect pylons and the lack of a ready supply of gas and electricity.