Developers RES have won approval for the Upper Ogmore 25 MW wind farm and battery proposal, to be sited near Blaengarw and Nant-y-Moel close to Bridgend.
Upper Ogmore is Wales’ first onshore wind project to be considered under the Developments of National Significance planning process, introduced by the Senedd in 2015. The nation’s Planning Inspectorate assessed its details, before ministers in Cardiff approved the project.
From its Cardiff office, RES has been progressing design iterations for the seven-turbine project since 2017, in response to neighbours’ feedback.
Project manager Chris Jackson declared: “This a great result for renewable energy in Wales and our efforts to tackle climate change as a country. The clean, green electricity produced will make a significant contribution to our target of 70% of electricity to come from renewables by 2030.
Upper Ogmore is expected to yield £16 million in business rates over its lifetime, Jackson added.
“Developing new onshore wind projects in Wales is popular, and they deliver significant local economic benefits, helping to support vital local services in the area, ” he said.
A Survation poll of over 1,000 adults undertaken in the principality in July 2021 revealed that 71% support more onshore Welsh wind turbines.
Twelve months later, the same firm’s fieldwork commissioned by RenewableUK among 6,000 people across Britain revealed strong support for onshore and solar farms to tackle the cost of energy crisis.
Upper Ogmore is RES’s fifth onshore wind farm in Wales alone, since launching the country in the early 1990s.
Most recently it completed the 17-tubine Garreg Lwyd Hill cluster in Powys. It spurred what RES calculates as over £4.5 million of inward investment in the Welsh economy, through hiring of local contractors and suppliers.
At Upper Ogmore, the developers anticipate a minimum of £1.9 million will be invested in the south Wales economy through construction and first year of operation. As the project progresses, RES has pledged to to maximise inward investment.
In December 2021 Whitehall’s BEIS approved RES’ Llanbrynmair wind farm in Powys. Once erected, its 30 turbines will have potential to generate between 60MW and 90MW, depending on the firm’s final choice of device. Planning permission authorises blades towering up to 126 metres above the mid-Wales landscape.
RES employs over 2,500 people in 11 countries.
