UK gives green light to 299 MW Welsh wind farm
Charles Hendry, the UK’s Energy Minister, has today granted Vattenfall, Sweden’s biggest utility, permission to construct a 299 megawatt wind farm in South Wales.
Charles Hendry, the UK’s Energy Minister, has today granted Vattenfall, Sweden’s biggest utility, permission to construct a 299 megawatt wind farm between Neath and Aberdare in South Wales.
The Pen Y Cymoedd project will have the highest generating capacity of any onshore wind facility in the whole of England and Wales.
The Welsh wind farm, consisting of a total of 76 turbines, will produce enough.jpg)
electricity to power up to 206,000 homes, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
“Onshore wind plays an important role in enhancing our energy security. It is the cheapest form of renewable energy and reduces our reliance on foreign fuel,” said Charles Hendry.
“This project in South Wales will generate vast amounts of home-grown renewable electricity and provide a significant benefits package for the local community.”
The facility will cost in the region of £300 million and create or support around 300 jobs in the region, according to Piers Guy, Vattenfall's head of onshore wind development in the UK.
“Pen y Cymoedd is a major project that could be worth more than £1 billion to the UK economy,” said Guy.
“This project shows what onshore wind energy investments can offer Wales over the short and long term.”
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Today’s agreement also saw Vattenfall pledge to establish a community benefits package potentially worth more than £55 million over the lifetime of the development. The package includes £3 million for habitat management and £6,000 a year per megawatt to a Community Trust Fund.
The construction of the Vattenfall wind farm is scheduled to begin next year, with the facility’s first electricity expected to be generated in 2016.
The UK government sees wind energy as key in its efforts to meet its 2020 target for energy from renewable sources, and in its long term ambitions of moving from finite, high-carbon fossil fuels to clean, secure energy. According to the DECC, onshore wind could provide Britain with as much as 15 percent of its total electricity supply by 2020.
In 2011, renewables of all types provided the UK with 9.5 percent of its total energy supply, with onshore wind contributing just 3 percent.
Image 01: John Womack | Wikimedia Commons
Image 02 & 03: Climate Action Stock Photos
