Bute Energy aims to construct 200 wind turbines in Wales by 2030, addressing a significant portion of the region’s electricity needs.
New Radnor: Bute Energy, the biggest developer of onshore wind turbines in Wales, is gearing up to build 200 turbines by 2030. This project is expected to cover about a quarter of Wales’ electricity needs. Some of these turbines will be towering at over 200 meters, and they’ll need around 60 miles of pylons to connect to the national grid in Carmarthenshire.
Rural Wales is being eyed as a key player in the UK’s push for net zero emissions. Bute Energy, based in Cardiff, is already behind 16 energy parks in the area, including three that are pretty close to each other in the Radnorshire hills. There are also plans for more wind farms from other companies like RES, EDF, and Vattenfall.
One of Bute Energy’s projects at Nant Mithil near New Radnor shows just how big this undertaking is. They plan to build 31 turbines there, and the foundations will be quite massive—five meters deep and 25 meters wide, requiring a whopping 59,000 cubic meters of concrete.
Recently, the Welsh Government approved Bute Energy’s Twyn Hywel wind farm, which will have 14 turbines straddling Caerphilly borough and Rhondda Cynon Taf. This could be the first wind farm built in Wales in four years, with hopes to finish it by 2026.
However, not everyone is on board. If you drive through mid Powys, you’ll notice many landowners have put up signs telling Bute Energy and GreenGen Cymru to keep off their land. GreenGen, a subsidiary of Bute, is planning two pylon highways to connect all the proposed wind farms to Carmarthen, but this has sparked some backlash.
According to reports, Bute Energy’s managing director, Stuart George, mentioned that they aim to meet 15% of the capacity needed for the UK’s clean power targets by the end of the decade. But in rural Wales, the response has been mixed. Many locals are concerned about the ecological impact and the scale of the wind farms, which they feel could harm tourism and farming.
George acknowledged the challenges, saying, “It’s a difficult balance. We pride ourselves on community engagement, but it’s not always easy, and some people we just won’t be able to convince.”
