The Welsh Government has welcomed news that Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm in Carmarthenshire has been given consent to connect to the grid.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
The announcement was made last week by the UK Government’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark, and follows the wind farm site being given consent by the Department for Energy and Climate Change in March 2013.
The consent facilitates the construction of Brechfa Forest West, which is a 28 turbine, 57.4 MW renewable wind project. It will deliver an annual community benefit of over £450k per year once it is up and running and is expected to take approximately 20 months to build.
Environment Secretary Lesley Griffiths said:
“I welcome the UK Government’s consent of the grid connection for Brechfa. It means a real step forward in our ability to deliver on our carbon targets, and will mean huge benefits to the local supply chain and local community.
“However I would like to take this opportunity to push for powers over grid consents to be devolved to Wales, particularly now that Wales has responsibility for consenting wind installations.
“The current system leaves us exposed to possible misalignments between renewable energy consents and infrastructure and I believe would be much simplified by devolution of grid consent powers to Wales.”
Economy Secretary Ken Skates said:
“The construction and operation of this wind farm would not only benefit the environment but also the local economy. This is great news for Carmarthenshire and South West Wales. The Welsh Government stands ready to assist, encourage and prepare local companies to bid for contracts as and when they become available.”