The department of energy and climate change has granted Section 36 consent for a 76 turbine scheme of up to 299MW. The Pen Y Cymoedd scheme would be one of the largest onshore wind farms in the UK and the largest outside of Scotland. Vattenfall had originally applied to build an 84 turbine development but the number was reduced due to concerns about the visibility of turbines from National Park land as well their impact on peat bogs.
Consent was granted on the condition that Vattenfall agrees to fund a community benefits package potentially worth around £55m over the lifetime of the development, including £6,000 a year per megawatt to a community fund.
If the full 299MW scheme is built, that would amount to around £1.8m per annum for 25 years. Vattenfall said it would build a 250MW+ scheme, that, following a final investment decision, could be completed within four years.