RWE refines plan for new wind farm
WALES’ biggest energy generator has refined plans for a new onshore wind farm with the maximum number of turbines reduced from 13 to nine.
RWE is proposing to build the Gaerwen wind farm on a site southwest of Corwen and north-east of Bala, straddling the counties of Denbighshire and Gwynedd.
The developer now plans to increase the maximum turbine height to 200m on two turbines, with the tip height of the remaining seven to be up to 180m.
The changes follow extensive surveys on the site, covering ecology, ornithology, hydrology, noise and visual impacts, as well as weather measurements and a three-week informal consultation in early December 2022.
Arfon Edwards, project manager leading on the development, said: “Following several years of work by the team, we have now arrived at what we believe to be an optimal proposal for the Gaerwen wind farm taking into consideration environmental impacts as well comments received from statutory consultees and local stakeholders.
“The reduction in turbine number means we have looked to increase the energy generating capacity through an increase in tip height, with our assessments showing this is possible on two out of nine.
“The project’s planned maximum capacity will now be around 59.4 MW. We intend to take our updated plans on to a further round of formal pre-application consultation later this year, before we submit plans to the Welsh Ministers for consideration.”
RWE had also considered solar energy generation on the site. However, following further assessments, the site is not viewed as suitable for this.
The proposed wind farm would contribute to both Welsh and UK Government targets towards net zero.