January 10, 2020
Wales

Plan for 150m high windfarm unveiled

By Twm Owen - News Editor | The Brecon & Radnor Express | Thursday, 9 January 2020 | www.brecon-radnor.co.uk

New plans for a wind farm of up to 22 turbines 149.9 metres tall north of Abbeycwmhir are to be submitted later this year.

Energy firm EDF Renewables plans to develop a wind farm called Garn Fach in partnership with 14 local farming families. The site is part of the former Llaithddu wind farm proposal and stretches from just north of Bwlch y Sarnau to Bryn Llyndwr, and is west of the A483 between Crossgates and Newtown.

The firm will today submit an environmental scoping report to the Welsh Government and an application to Powys County Council to erect a met mast on site to gather accurate wind speed data.

Public information days, ahead of a formal consultation as part of a planning application, will be held across the area later this month.

Interactive 3D visual software modelling will be available at the exhibitions to enable residents to see the effects of the proposed development from different angles and viewpoints.

EDF R says it is committed to an annual community benefit fund for Garn Fach of £5,000 per MW, which could be around £550,000 (depending on the final capacity of the project) per year available for local causes, or £16.5 million over the 30-year lifetime of the project.

The wind farm will also have the potential for local ownership, with opportunities for local people and organisations to invest and have a stake in the project.

Mark Vyvyan- Robinson, director of development and investments at EDF R, said: “Garn Fach would make a positive contribution to our efforts to tackle climate change, as well as delivering benefits to the community. We are pleased to be developing Garn Fach in partnership with 14 local farming families and hope that the wind farm will be seen as an asset in the community in our fight to tackle climate change.”

The planning application for the wind farm will be assessed by the independent planning inspectorate, with a final decision being taken by the Welsh Government.

Public Information Days will take place at the following times and locations: