Monday 8 May 2017

Wales’ largest onshore wind farm hits full power

Wales' largest onshore wind farm has starting operating at full power.

Vattenfall’s £400 million Pen y Cymoedd Wind Energy Project hit the milestone yesterday, 38 months after construction in the upper Rhondda, Cynon and Afan valleys began.

The 76-turbine facility has a capacity of 230MW and can meet the electricity needs of more than 13% of Welsh households every year.

It is also expected to save more than 300,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide annually.

The announcement marks a boost to Vattenfall’s drive to triple its European wind capacity to 7GW by 2025.

Will Wason, Vattenfall’s Project Director, said: "To get to this stage of the project safely and on schedule is obviously very important to Vattenfall and our contractors. I sincerely hope that full generation from Wales’s largest onshore wind farm, producing competitive, clean, predictable power from the valleys will mean a lot to Wales.

"Pen y Cymoedd will power on average 188,000 homes every year across the nation with climate smart electricity and boost action on climate change."

A tidal energy project in Wales has recently been granted consent.