Mynydd Ty-talwyn Energy Park

Mynydd Ty-talwyn Energy Park, proposed by renewable energy company Galileo, would be located on land situated approximately 4km north of Bridgend and 8km east of Port Talbot in South Wales.

Comprising up to 10 wind turbines, the wind farm element will have an installed capacity of around 65 Mega-Watts (MW) and each wind turbine would have a height to blade tip of up to 230m. The project will also include ground mounted solar energy and battery storage.

Located on the border between Bridgend County Borough and Neath Port Talbot County Borough, the Mynydd Ty-talwyn Energy Park site benefits from an excellent wind resource. The site also has good access and will be designed to respond to local environmental constraints.

As the output of the project is expected to exceed 10MW, the project will be classed as a Development of National Significance (DNS) and will be determined by Welsh Ministers, with Bridgend County Borough Council and Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council being key statutory consultees as the host planning authorities.

The Application will be administered and examined by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW), which is part of the Welsh Government, with the expectation that it will be ready to submit to it in late 2024.

If approved, the wind element alone could produce approximately 149,638 Mega-Watt hours (MWh) of electricity annually – enough to power up to 42,644 homes.1
This would result in savings of up to 64,643 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year, assisting in tackling the climate emergency and supporting Wales to achieve its target of meeting the equivalent of 100% of its annual electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2035.2

In addition, it will provide social and economic benefits to local communities and to the wider region, for example through construction and operational employment and long-term economic investment.

Project Proposal

Renewable energy – tackling the climate emergency and delivering home-grown energy

The proposal for Mynydd Ty-talwyn Energy Park is set against the backdrop of the climate emergency, and the need to move to more sustainable energy sources in order to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

Recent events have also focused people’s minds on the risks of overreliance on imported fossil fuels, with the rising cost of gas driving the huge increase in energy bills.

The growth of secure, home-grown renewable energy can help to insulate Wales and the UK from future price shocks and play a key role in decarbonising heat, power and transport.

Onshore wind and solar are two of the cheapest sources of new-build electricity generation in the UK, and already make an important contribution to the renewables mix.

Future growth of this will assist in achieving the Welsh Government target that 100% of all electricity generated in Wales should come from renewable sources by 2035.

Site Location…

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey digital map data @ Crown Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Licence number 0100031673

Facts and Figures

Location

  • Nearest wind turbine is approximately 5km northwest of Bridgend

Site is approximately:

  • 4km north of Bridgend
  • 8km east of Port Talbot
  • 5km south of Maesteg

Why Mynydd Ty-talwyn?

  • Potential to power up to 42,644 homes from the wind element alone
  • Excellent wind speed
  • Could significantly boost the local economy
  • Good site access

Specification

Wind

  • Up to 10 onshore wind turbines
  • Height to blade tip of up to 230m
  • Total installed capacity of up to 65 Mega-Watts (MW)
  • Annual output of approximately 149,638 MWh
  • Approximately 64,643 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions saved per annum
  • Up to 50-year lifetime

Solar

  • Ground mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) modules fixed to mounting structures known as ‘strings’
  • Each panel typically 2m long and 1m wide
  • Maximum height of the modules approximately 4m
  • Panels angled towards the sun

Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)

  • BESS is designed to provide peak generation and grid balancing services to the electricity grid.
  • As a secondary function, it may also import surplus energy from the electricity grid when energy available to the grid exceeds demand.
  • The BESS typically comprises a number of shipping container units.

Indicative Timeline

*An EIA Scoping Request seeks to obtain from PEDW the scope and level of detail of information that needs to be provided in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report that will accompany the DNS Application.

  1. Surveys Underway
    2021 – ongoing

  2. Submission to PEDW

    September 2023

  3. Autumn 2023

  4. Early 2024

  5. including draft planning documentation and Environmental Statement

    Mid/Late 2024

  6. Late 2024

  7. 2025

  8. 2028

Galileo’s Community Offering

Galileo is committed to developing projects that deliver substantial and tangible benefits locally and foster strong community relations.

If successful, millions of pounds will be spent locally over the lifetime of the project, in addition to creating and supporting existing jobs in areas such as construction and hospitality.

Community Wealth Fund

An energy park at Mynydd Ty-talwyn will provide a real opportunity to build and contribute to a lasting and sustainable Community Wealth Fund, benefitting the local community for the lifetime of the energy park and beyond.

Galileo is committed to exploring with local groups and organisations as to how a Community Wealth Fund, index-linked for the operational lifetime of the energy park, can best be distributed.

The extent of the community fund will be based on each MW of the entire project providing a guaranteed income of £5,000 annually (index-linked).

We actively encourage input from members of the local community concerning the types of local projects they would like to see benefit from the wealth fund.

Some suggestions to consider are highlighted below:

  • Local Energy Discounts

Galileo is keen to explore the potential for discounting energy bills for those properties in communities closest to the energy park. This would be a direct and tangible benefit to people living and working closest to Mynydd Ty-talwyn Energy Park, and would be open to all residential, business and community buildings.

 

  • Education and Training Fund

To encourage local students who want to extend their education but may not have the means to do so, Galileo could set up a project bursary scheme. Working with local schools, further education practitioners, and relevant Welsh organisations, Galileo could support aspiring learners and those wishing to enter Modern Apprenticeships or develop land-based skills.

Community Shared Ownership

In addition to the Community Wealth Fund, up to 10% ownership in the project will be offered to the community surrounding the development. Galileo has long-term experience in working with government advisers on such matters, who can assist in providing professional advice and support to the local community.

Any profits that come out of any ownership stake can be used to benefit the community. Additionally, our team is extremely well placed given they have been directly involved in successfully delivering community shared ownership elsewhere in the UK.

Construction Community Fund

A Construction Community Fund will be made available to local groups and organisations to coincide with the start of construction until the commencement of the operation of the energy park, to help offset any inconvenience caused during the construction period.

Community Engagement

At Galileo, we believe strongly in the need for ongoing dialogue regarding our projects from the very beginning. We promise to consult and listen carefully to the communities’ views, making changes to accommodate these views where possible.

We welcome the opportunity to listen to local people’s views, and we will be holding a number of public exhibitions to consult further with the community later in 2023.

To request a copy of exhibition information following the public exhibitions or to speak with one of our team, you can email the project team on mtt@galileoenergy.uk, call us on 0330 363 6229, or get in touch through this website.

If you would prefer to write to us, you can send any correspondence, without any stamp or additional address required, to: 

Freepost
MYNYDD TY-TALWYN

You can also register for updates or as a local business if you are interested in further opportunities.

Public Consultation– September 2023

Click here to open consultation boards Click here to open visualisations Click here to open viewpoint locations Click here to open indicative proposed layout

Further Information

To discuss the Mynydd Ty-talwyn Energy Park in more detail, please contact:

Leslie Walker | Project Manager
Email: MTT@galileoenergy.uk
Phone: 0330 363 6229
Post: Freepost MYNYDD TY-TALWYN
Web: www.galileoenergy.uk

About Galileo

Founded in 2020, Galileo is a fast-growing pan-European, multitechnology, renewable energy developer, owner and operator with a mission to significantly contribute to achieving global emission reduction targets.

We aim to do this by developing enough smart, efficient, high quality and integrated green energy projects such that renewable energy becomes the primary source of electricity for all energy consumers in Europe.

Galileo currently has a project development portfolio of over 7000 MW across multiples European countries, including the UK, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Poland. With an office in Cardiff, Mynydd Ty-talwyn Energy Park is one of a pipeline of our new renewable energy projects in development across Wales.

Our senior management team is made up of leading energy and investment experts that bring decades of international experience across more than thirty markets. Our funders are long-term infrastructure and pension funds with a global footprint, international mindset and a collaborative mentality.

References

1 Calculated using the most recent statistics from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) showing that annual average domestic household consumption is 3,509kWh (as of December 2022, updated annually).
RenewableUK calculates homes powered as: number of Mega-Watts installed, multiplied by BEIS’s load factor expressed as a fraction of 1, multiplied by number of hours in a year, divided by average annual domestic electricity consumption expressed in MWh.

The load factor is calculated by RenewableUK as a rolling average of the past five years using data (on an Unchanged Configuration Basis) from the Digest of UK Energy Statistics published by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Using stats 2017- 2021 (released in July 2022). For onshore wind this is a load factor of 26.28%.


2 RenewableUK uses BEIS’s “all non-renewable fuels” emissions statistic of 432 tonnes of carbon dioxide per GWh of electricity supplied in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (July 2022) Table 5.14 (“Estimated carbon dioxide emissions from electricity supplied”). Carbon reduction is calculated by multiplying the total amount of electricity generated by wind and by solar per year by the number of tonnes of carbon which fossil fuels would have produced to generate the same amount of electricity.