Fforch Nest Wind Farm

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Fforch Nest

RWE npower renewables is currently awaiting a planning decision for the proposed Fforch Nest Wind Farm.

The original planning applications for Fforch Nest Wind Farm were submitted to Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) and Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council in August 2006 (Two planning applications were submitted because the wind farm straddles the boundary of both authorities).

At this time the applications were for 13 turbines with a maximum tip height of 135m.Further to comments made during the planning process, the proposal has since been revised and now includes eleven turbines with a maximum height of up to 115m. The anticipated installed capacity will now be between 22-27.5MW meaning the wind farm will have the potential to power up to 12,800 homes annually¹.

Following the changes to the scheme Supplementary Environmental Information was submitted by npower renewables to both Bridgend and Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Councils in October 2008.

Turbines 2 and 12 have been deleted, but no other turbines have been affected or have been moved. There is still a good separation distance between the proposed turbines, with nearby properties being at least 1km away.

Notes:
1) Energy predicted to be generated by the proposal is derived using wind speeds monitored in the local area and correlating to a Meteorological Office station providing longer term data. This enables a calculation to be made to estimate the average annual energy production for the site based on 11 turbines each of rated capacity of 2.3 MW. The energy capture predicted and hence derived homes equivalent or emissions savings figures may change as further data are gathered.

Equivalent homes supplied is based on an annual electricity consumption per home of 4700kWh, which is derived from a total UK domestic electricity consumption of 117.589 terawatt hours (TWh) (The Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2005) and 25.2 million UK households (Mid-year Household Estimates published in 2004 by the Office for National Statistics).