Taff Ely Wind Farm - A Repowering Project

The existing Taff Ely Wind Farm RWE npower renewables is currently developing proposals to upgrade the existing wind turbines at Taff Ely, and so provide a more efficient, higher energy generating capacity wind farm.

The site, built in 1993 and operated by RWE npower renewables since 1998, is one of the oldest first generation of wind farms to be built in the UK.

Today’s modern wind turbines have moved on significantly from those currently installed at Taff Ely. We, therefore, intend to install these new turbines at the wind farm, reducing the number on site, while increasing the amount of energy generated.

The Taff Ely repowering project proposals are now well developed and we expect to announce their submission to the local planning authority some time early in 2012.
We submitted a Scoping Report to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, advising the council of the detailed investigations we intended to conduct to understand more about the site.

These comprehensive environmental investigations have helped us fully understand any potential effects on the environment from this new development, and this information has helped shape our proposals for repowering the wind farm. The studies included months of environmental surveys, together with assessments of landscape and cultural heritage features.

As part of this process, we have talked to a wide range of people and organisations about the potential repowering of Taff Ely. During this process we consulted organisations such as The Environment Agency, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Countryside Council for Wales and the Ministry of Defence in order to ensure we had comprehensive specialist knowledge of the site.

The results of these investigations were influential in determining the design of our proposed layout. These proposals were presented to the local community and their elected representatives during two days of public exhibitions in the area. They presented an opportunity for people living near to the proposed repowering project to speak to us, have their questions answered and give us their views. The exhibitions also helped us understand how best to move forward with our proposals for a new Community Benefits Package, which would better reflect the larger proposals.

Public exhibitions for repowering Taff Ely Wind Farm were held over two days in October, 2011, at Henderforgan Primary School, Gilfach Goch.

Once proposals are submitted and accepted by the local planning authority, Rhondda Cynon Taff will conduct a further formal consultation exercise amongst local communities.