CLA Monitors Wind Farm Development
2011-05-23

CLA Wales will be working with landowners and land managers who fear their interests will be detrimentally affected by the National Grid Mid Wales Connection Project.

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Wales Director Ben Underwood said his team will be monitoring developments and will be working to protect landowners and land managers. They will be lobbying for the best deal for landowners in terms of compensation, easements, and mitigation and will also be pressing for underground electricity supply lines.

The National Grid Mid Wales Connection Project involves connecting proposed new wind farms in Mid Wales to the electricity transmission network. It follows the Welsh Assembly Government having identified Mid Wales in its Technical Advice Note (TAN 8) as an important location for renewable energy.

A new substation is needed to collect the energy following applications from developers progressing proposals for new wind farms in these Strategic Search Areas (SSAs) and from the local distribution network Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN). A new 400,000 volt (400 kV) transmission connection will then connect the power to the national transmission system.

Local 132,000 volt (132kV) transmission cables will also be required to connect the power generation from the wind farms to the proposed new substation. The National Grid is currently taking views from the public on the location of the new substation, the approach National Grid will take to connecting the new energy generation and the route the connection will take.

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