Windfarms will wreck our Valley, say residents

Martin Shipton

People living in one of south Wales’ lesser known valleys have condemned multiple windfarm plans they claim will wreck their quality of life.

In a statement sent to Nation.Cymru, five campaigners - identifying themselves as Gwyn Thomas, Jeff and Ann Bonell, Joy Pike and Mel - say the future of the Dulais Valley near Neath will be determined by whether the schemes are granted planning permission or not.

They state: “Rebecca Evans, Wales’ Economy Secretary, intends to speed up planning decisions to achieve [the Welsh Government’s] goal for net zero. She has committed to a sector deal with Wales’s renewable energy industry, which she said will include action to accelerate planning decisions and provide greater clarity.

“As part of this vandalism and madness, the Dulais Valley [the Welsh Government] is in serious danger of becoming a victim of her short sightedness. The Welsh Government (WG) has set out clear criteria in Future Wales 2040 but ministers are hell bent on circumventing these at whatever cost to our communities. They disregard objections raised regarding loss of valuable peat or to the wellbeing of community members.

“In the decision to allow Twyn Howell (a Bute Energy Project), the planning inspector and Rebecca Evans had no hesitation in overriding the concerns over the loss of peat and the significant visual impact of the development on communities.

“Currently, the villages of Crynant and Seven Sisters nestle in a valley where there are two distinct and beautiful mountains which are used regularly by visitors and locals for leisure activities. Hirfynydd is renowned for Sarn Helen, the Roman road which goes from Neath (Nidum) to Coelbren and beyond to Conway in the north. Marchywel is an exceptional landmark visible from miles around, including from Pen-y-Fan to the north and Mumbles Head in the south.”

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Hirfynydd Energy Park

The statement says the first proposed development was revealed to the Dulais Valley’s communities in 2022: the 100MW Hirfynydd Energy Park, which will occupy 750 acres, with seven 200 metre high wind turbines, many of which will - it says - destroy valuable peat deposits, and 130 acres of solar panels.

“This EDF development lies outside the agreed WG pre-assessed area but within the Dulais Valley Special Landscape Area as set out in the Neath Port Talbot Local Plan. If the development is granted planning permission, the Special Landscape Area status will disappear and the beauty and tranquillity of Hirfynydd will be destroyed.

“It is an area rich in cultural heritage and biodiversity, and home to a range of endangered species. Plaid Cymru is of the opinion that turbines and solar panels should not occupy sites that provide habitats for endangered species or act as carbon sinks. EDF, owned by the French Government, wishes to construct this Energy Park but has not informed the community of several important features including the revised time-line for the development.

“Two “consultation” or PR events, have been held. To the annoyance of many residents, numerous questions were left unanswered at these meetings. Even the reports on the consultations were distorted with too many positive slants towards EDF. Although 69% of respondents rejected the proposals following the second event, EDF played down this key fact. The final statutory consultation has been delayed several times with no reasonable explanation given as to why.”

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Pre-assessed area

The statement goes on to refer to the second development on Mynydd Marchywel, which is being researched by Bute Energy. It lies within the WG Pre-assessed area for Wind Energy.

“According to the WG”, says the statement, “it has modelled the likely impact on landscapes and has found them capable of accommodating developments in an acceptable way. However, there was never any meaningful consultation about pre-assessed areas between the WG and the public. The need to hold very public conversations evaluating the benefits of increased renewable development against landscape impact never happened.

“Bute Energy is a Scottish company financed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) from Denmark, one of Europe’s biggest renewable investors, and the local councils’ Wales Pension Partnership (WPP). This renewable finance company (CIP) has a call option at the point of the start of construction. This means that if they want to buy the site, they can.

“As a private company, Bute Energy’s primary aim is to make money for its shareholders. The power generated is not for Wales. Indeed, there is nothing major in it for Wales. This company is coming in to take what it can. “Stuart George, the managing director of Bute Energy, claims that ‘Wales is primed to lead and benefit from the shift to renewable energy, through significant direct investment, new jobs, and investment in local communities. Our Community Benefit Fund, our skills work, and our innovative approach to working with communities will help us in our mission to keep as much of the investment in Wales as possible.’

“This Bute project is identified on its 18 location-development-Wales map as Tarenni, but has not been disclosed publicly to the local community because Bute is undertaking a scoping exercise and has not made a formal application to PEDW [the Welsh Government’s planning body].

“This massive wind farm will ruin the landscape and devastate the village of Crynant over which it will cast a very dark shadow, and directly contravenes WG Planning Policy 18.

Solar Farm

“The latest development to be proposed within the Dulais Valley is a 25MW, 40-70-acre solar farm at Pen Caer Lan, to the west of Seven Sisters. Based on current information, this project is expected to generate a community fund of only £7500 per annum. exclusively for the local community during its lifetime and is predicted to provide a secure supply of clean energy which is produced but not used locally. This will disappear into the national grid. The company, Greetech Project Holding UK, originates in Hamburg, Germany, and claims that it will deliver significant economic benefits, with a commitment to employing locally, and use the local supply chain during construction and operation, as well as through the provision of annual business rates for Neath Port Talbot County Borough.

“More hollow words to pacify the local community council and the local authority. The truth of the matter is that the site will be managed remotely and most of the materials used will be supplied from abroad.

“Within the Dulais Valley, there are current proposals to build wind projects with a total capacity of 238MW and solar projects with a total capacity of 75MW. Due to the unreliability of wind and solar power, current windfarms operate at around 23% and solar at around 11% of full capacity. Are we expected to tolerate these vast uneconomic developments, which on the surface, appear to be generating vast quantities of electricity? People are being treated with contempt by both the WG, and these companies which are backed by foreign finance.

“Enough is enough.The WG is destroying our countryside for no reason, other than to be the first nation to reach net zero. It has targeted the Valleys unfairly, especially Neath Port Talbot and Rhondda Cynon Taf. It regards communities in these two authorities as easy prey, due to the levels of social deprivation present.

“There has been no serious recognition by the WG of viable and reliable alternatives to wind or solar. Currently. Bristol is proposing to develop off shore wind farms in the Celtic Sea. Does this mean that the likes of Port Talbot and Milford Haven for constructing off shore windfarms are now dead ducks? Has the WG missed yet another boat because of its ineptness? If the WG is so committed to onshore wind development and its so-called reliability, why is it building mini-gas powerplants (e.g. Rhigos near Hirwaun) to back-up the uncertain supply of electricity from wind and solar? Why is it ignoring the consistency of tidal, offshore, and geothermal energy? The movement towards nuclear and hydrogen power is underway, but is still too slow.

“We are not against renewable energy, but the current thrust for continued unreliable onshore wind is unsustainable and irrational. What about the Severn Barrage? If the UK Government can spend billions on HS2, why not invest in the Severn Barrage to provide long-term sustainable renewable energy?

“It would have been, and still is, more economical to develop the Swansea Bay Barrage and other lagoons around the Welsh coast, instead of filling the pockets of foreign companies with constraint payments and profits which should be invested at home.

“With the existing windfarms and the projected wind and solar farms in the northern section of the Dulais Valley and those now being proposed in the south, the villages of the Valley will be engulfed by unacceptable renewable energy projects. Our quality of life will be destroyed forever.”