| Pen y Cymoedd Wind Farm | |
| Country: | Wales |
| Location: | between Neath and Aberdare in south Wales. |
| Wind Hub Height: | 89.5 m[1] |
| Ps Electrical Cap Fac: | 30%[2] |
| Ps Annual Generation: | 0.6 TWh |
Pen y Cymoedd ("Head of the Valleys") is a wind farm located between Neath and Aberdare in south Wales. It opened in 2017.
Natural Resources Wales signed a lease agreement with Vattenfall of Sweden and its British-based subsidiary Vattenfall United Kingdom (formerly Nuon Renewables), to develop what will be the United Kingdom's highest altitude wind farm, on a site owned by Natural Resources Wales, previously the Forestry Commission Wales.[3] The project has seen the installation of 76 turbines with a peak power of 228 MWp, that are planned to operate for 25 years, and to generate up to 0.6 TWh/yr, an amount enough to power up to 140 000 homes with an annual consumption of 4 266 kWh.[4] The turbine manufacturer is Siemens Wind Power.
During the planning process, Vattenfall (at that time: Nuon) agreed to contribute about £1.85m annually to a community fund and to invest £3m in a habitat restoration scheme, and the following parties contributed to the debate:[5]
objected on the grounds of its potential impact on a sensitive peat habitat.
the planning committee decided not to object to the scheme in January 2012, after councillors carried out a site visit, although they set a number of conditions.
The project gained final planning permission in May 2012.[6]
The first turbine was fully completed in April 2016[7] and began generating electricity in autumn 2016. The final (76th) turbine was installed on 2 March 2017, and the farm has been fully operational since 7 May 2017.[8] The farm was officially opened in September 2017.[9]