Our Pant y Wal project is located near Blackmill in Bridgend County Borough Council. The Pant y Wal site was first identified in 2004 and land assembled in 2005. Following the completion of EIA studies our original application for a 14 x 3MW site was made in March 2006. RWE made an application on the neighbouring Fforch Nest site for 13 x 3MW turbines in August 2006 (spanning both Bridgend and Rhondda Cynon Taff boundaries). In 2008 Bridgend CBC and CCW requested that PWL and RWE co-operate to enable one access route rather than the two separate ones we had to that date brought forward. We subsequently submitted with RWE a joint access track application in late 2008.
In 2009 our Bridgend application (then reduced to 10 x 2.5MW turbines) was approved along with the joint access track. RWE’s application for the 4 (of its then 11 x 2.5MW) turbines in Bridgend CBC was approved at the same planning meeting. In October 2011 PWL successfully completed the financing of the Pant y Wal project and construction started late in that month. The RWE Fforch Nest project is being constructed in parallel with Pant y Wal.
Construction
The major project parties are:
Turbine Supply Contract –
Nordex
Civil Engineering Contract –
Walters UK
Electrical Engineering Contract –
Powersystems Ltd
Grid Connection –
Western Power Distribution
Walters UK has
also assumed the role of principal contractor.
The installed capacity of the Pant y
Wal site alone will be 25MW. The final capacity of the Fforch Nest
scheme will be 27MW.
During operation:
Power Sales Contract –
Statkraft
Operations and Maintenance Contract –
Nordex
Equity Investors – Pennant Walters Ltd and
InfraRed Capital Partners Limited
(formerly HSBC Specialist Investments Limited)
Debt Financing was provided
Lloyds Bank.
Construction is due to complete in April 2013.
