Welcome
to the project website for the
Y Bryn onshore wind farm.
Coriolis Energy and ESB are proposing to develop a new onshore wind farm in South Wales that could deliver enough renewable energy to power over 85,700 homes.*
Y Bryn Wind Farm is located north east of Port Talbot and the proposals include up to 18 turbines, which could deliver up to 130MW of renewable energy generation, equivalent to the annual needs of 68% of households in Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend combined, whilst offsetting over 137,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel generation each year.*
As this project will deliver in excess of 10MW of wind energy it will constitute a Development of National Significance (DNS) under the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 an application must be made to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales, which will make a recommendation to Welsh Ministers on whether or not to grant planning permission.
This website will be updated regularly to keep you informed about the proposals and the upcoming public consultation, where we will be seeking views of local residents and consultees.
*Source: See FAQs on ‘Proposals’ page for further information about these figures:
Renewable UK Wind Energy Database (2024): https://www.renewableuk.com/page/UKWEDExplained
Stats Wales: Households by Local Authority and Year (2019)
Project Update – Application Accepted for Examination
April 2024
Following three phases of extensive local community and technical consultation during 2022-2023, Y Bryn Wind Farm has been submitted to and Accepted by Planning and Environment Decision Wales (PEDW), and the examination period will now commence.
Some of the benefits include:
- Y Bryn will generate around 317,883 megawatt-hours of renewable electricity generated per year, equivalent to the annual needs of 85,700 average UK homes or approximately 68% of households in Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend council areas combined.
- Y Bryn will offset over 137,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel generation each year.*
- Y Bryn will deliver a Biodiversity Net Benefit through the agreed Habitat Management Plan.
- Y Bryn will deliver significant improvements to access for a range of forest users through an Access Management and Enhancement Plan.
- Up to 20% of the project will be available for local ownership (10% local individuals and community groups, and 10% for public sector bodies to invest in).
- Y Bryn will deliver £8,000/MW (per Mega Watt) to the community benefit fund, which could be in the region of £1million per year for the lifetime of the project.
- Y Bryn will contribute approximately 3% of the remaining shortfall against the Welsh Government’s 2030 target to generate 70% of consumed electricity by renewable means.
- Y Bryn will pay substantial business rates to the two local councils.
- Y Bryn will bring local jobs and investment during construction and operation.
You can view the application documents and register your interest in the proposals on the DNS website: planningcasework.service.gov.wales and search for ‘Y BRYN WIND FARM’.
Final Proposals
Listening to feedback...
Following the first and second phases of consultation on our developing proposals, we received a significant amount of feedback, which helped us to refine the design of the scheme.
A third, statutory, phase of consultation took place between 1st June and 17th July 2023. We are grateful for all those that have engaged with the consultation and provided their feedback.
During the statutory consultation, we shared our final proposed scheme with the local community and all the consultation materials and documents shared at this point remain available to view from this website (see links to the right, and the ‘Project Documents‘ page).
You can view the application documents and register your interest in the proposals on the DNS website: www.planningcasework.service.gov.wales and search for ‘Y BRYN WIND FARM’.
Timeline
Project inception, early investigative surveys and EIA scoping
Phase 1 Community Consultation on EIA Scoping
Phase 2 Community Consultation on refined proposals
Concluding environmental assessments, reviewing feedback and finalising the proposals
Statutory consultation on draft planning documents and review of feedback.
Application Accepted for Examination by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW)
Examination of applciation by PEDW
Recommendation to Welsh Government by the Inspector
Application decision by Welsh Ministers
We are proposing to develop a new onshore wind farm in South Wales that could deliver enough renewable energy to power over 85,700 homes.*
Have your say
We are undertaking an extensive pre-application community consultation exercise prior to submitting an application to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW). This involves two rounds of public consultation (Which took place in 2021 and 2022), and a formal consultation period (1st June to 17th July 2023) as required by the DNS regulations set out in the Planning (Wales) Act 2015.
We have now closed our third, statutory, phase of public consultation on the proposals. Please contact us via this website if you have any questions about the project.
About us
This project is being developed by Coriolis Energy and ESB in partnership.
Coriolis Energy is an experienced, professional wind energy developer, which has delivered projects around the UK that are currently bringing benefits to both communities and the environment.
ESB is Ireland’s premier energy company and is a leading independent power generator in the UK, committed to investing in Wales’s natural resources.