Renewable energy in Wales

In 2018, Wales generated more than 50% of its electricity consumption as renewable electricity, an increase from 19% in 2014. The Welsh Government set a target of 70% by 2030.[1] In 2019, Wales was the world's 5th largest exporter of electricity (22.7 TWh), mainly to Ireland and England.[2][3] The natural resource base for renewable energy is high by European standards, with the core sources being wind, wave, and tidal. Wales has a long history of renewable energy: in the 1880s, the first house in Wales with electric lighting powered from its own hydro-electric power station was in Plas Tan y Bwlch, Gwynedd. In 1963, the Ffestiniog Power Station was constructed, providing a large scale generation of hydroelectricity, and in November 1973, the Centre for Alternative Technology was opened in Machynlleth.

Wind farm at Llanbabo, Anglesey

Government policy

In April 2019, a Climate Emergency was declared by the Welsh Government,[4] and on 1 May the Senedd became the first parliament in the world to pass a climate emergency declaration.[5]

Current Welsh Government policy advocates for an increase in the percentage that renewable energy accounts for in Wales' energy sector, launching projects such as 'Prosperity for All: A Low Carbon Wales' to achieve this goal. 'The Climate Change Strategy for Wales' describes how the government will decrease greenhouse gas emissions. The reports suggest that energy generation from renewable sources is key to achieving a low carbon economy.[6]

The Welsh Government expects that all new energy projects should have an element of local ownership and this was the case for 825 MW of installed renewable energy capacity in 2019.[7]

In 2016, the low carbon economy was estimated to consist of 9,000 businesses, employing 13,000 people and generating a £2.4 billion turnover.[7]

By principal area

Percentage of electricity consumption which from local renewables in 2019 (5 highest):

Hydropower
Ffestiniog Hydroelectric power station
Dolgarrog Hydroelectric power station

List of hydropower stations:

NameLocationCoordinatesOutputNotes
Cwm Dyli hydro power station[8] Gwynedd 10 MW commissioned 1906 operational
Dinorwig Power StationGwynedd53°7′7″N 4°6′50″W1728 MW(pumped storage)
Dolgarrog power stationConwy County Borough53°11'28"N 3°50'33"W 28 MW commissioned 1907 operational 2020
Dolgelley power station Dolgellau 148 kW hydro + oil engine
Ffestiniog Power StationGwynedd52°58′51″N 3°58′8″W360 MW(pumped storage)
Machynlleth A power station Powys 250 kW hydro + oil engine[8]
Maentwrog power station[8] Gwynedd 52°56'10"N 4°00'15"W 30 MW commissioned 1928, refitted 1988-92
Rheidol Power StationCeredigion52°23′46″N 3°54′00″W49 MW
River Tawe BarrageSwansea51°36′58″N 3°55′44″W
Towyn power station[8] Tywyn 950 kW hydro + oil engine
Radyr Hydro Scheme Cardiff 51°31'9.79"N 3°15'13.50"W 394 kW Hydro (River Weir Screw turbines)

In 2019, there were 363 hydroelectric projects in Wales, with the capacity of 182MW, annually generating over 347 GWh.[9]: 17  Gwynedd had the highest number of hydropower projects (144 in 2019).

Dinorwig Power Station, which lies on the boundary of the Snowdonia National Park, was fully commissioned in 1984. It has six generators placed inside Europe's largest man-made cavern, deep inside the Elidir mountain. Maximum electricity generation is achieved in less than 16 seconds, and is the largest quick response hydropower plant in Europe.[10] The scheme supplies a maximum power of 1,728-megawatt (2,317,000 hp) and has a storage capacity of approximately 9.1 GWh (33 TJ).[11]

Tidal power

Wales has a vast untapped potential for tidal poser. Gerallt Llewelyn Jones of social enterprise Menter Môn said,: “We have strong tidal resources around Wales and they have huge potential.” he added that tidal power is more predictable than wind and solar power. The tidal range round the west coast of Britain is one of the largest in the world. The Morlais project is to build lagoons with large sea walls and turbines powered by rising and falling tides, it could power 180,000 homes. The proposed North Wales Tidal Lagoon would involvr a sea wall over 19 miles long from Llandudno to Prestatyn. Supporters say the £7bn project could power more thanover a million homes and create more thn 20,000 jobs.[12]

Wind power
NameLocationCoordinatesOutputNotes
Alltwalis Wind Farm[8]Carmarthenshire51°58′24″N 4°15′3″W23 MW
Brechfa Forest Wind FarmGwernogle, Carmarthenshire90 MW
Carno wind farmCarno, Powys, Mid Wales52°33′1″N 3°36′1″W49 MW
Cefn Croes wind farmCeredigion52°24′18″N 3°45′03″W58.5 MW
Moel MaelogenConwy53°08′07″N 3°43′25″W14.3 MW
North Hoyle Offshore Wind FarmLiverpool Bay53°26′N 3°24′W60 MW
Pen y CymoeddNeath51°41′01″N 03°41′01″W228 MW
Rhyd-y-GroesAnglesey7 MW
Rhyl FlatsLiverpool Bay53°22′N 03°39′W90 MW
Gwynt y MôrIrish Sea53°27′N 03°35′W576 MW(consent granted 2008, construction began 2011)

Offshore wind
Gwynt y Môr windfarm: the fifth largest operating offshore windfarm in the world

In 2021, three offshore wind farms off the north coast had a capacity of 726 MW: Rhyl Flats and North Hoyle have a capacity of 150 MW, and Gwynt y Môr was commissioned in 2015 and in 2019 had a capacity of 576 MW with 160 turbines, making it the fifth largest operating offshore windfarm in the world.[13]

Blue Gem Wind, a joint venture between TotalEnergies and Simply Blue Energy, is a Celtic Sea project developer that has secured rights to develop Wales’ first floating offshore wind farm, located 45 km south of the Pembrokeshire Coast. This will be Wales' first floating wind farm and could start generating electricity by 2027.[14]

Onshore wind

One of the main problems facing developers in Wales are peat bogs, a naturally-occurring carbon sink. Ornithological issues, especially in ecologically rich sites can also increase developing costs. Some of the main terrestrial wind energy farms include:

  • Brechfa Forest West (up to 28 turbines, 57.4MW) - ‘Renewable Energy Project of the Year’ winner
  • Clocaenog Forest, Denbighshire (27 turbines, 96MW),
  • Llandinam Windfarm, Powys (103 turbines, 31MW) - the oldest ScottishPower Renewables' windfarm, operated as CeltPower Ltd. Constructed in 1992.
  • Pen y Cymoedd (76 turbine, 228MW) - Wales's largest onshore wind farm; a battery storage scheme will also be built onsite.
Clocaenog Forest wind farm, from Llyn Brenig

In 2019, the capacity was 1.25 GW, according to the Welsh Government, which was an increase of 12% from the previous year. Neath Port Talbot, with its 230 MW capacity in 2019 was the highest in Wales.[7] Onshore wind is relatively strong in Wales, due to its mountainous and coastal nature.

Solar PV
Installing solar panels in Flat Holm

Solar PV (for electricity) and thermal panels (for hot water) are used throughout the country, for both domestic and non-domestic use. From 2012, roof-mounted solar panels above 50 kW needed full planning permission; anything below that fell under 'permitted rights'.[6]

Nearly 20% of Wales' total solar power (989 MW) is generated in Pembrokeshire. In 2019, 26% of the national, total capacity solar PV in Wales was locally owned.

Heat pumps

In 2019, the total capacity from water, air and ground source heat pumps totalled 86 MW, from 7,817 projects.[7] Most of these were domestic installations, and around 80% were air source heat pumps.

Fossil fuels

Fossil fuels are not renewables; historically, the economy of Wales has been driven by fossil fuels. The coal industry in Wales had reached large proportions by the end of the eighteenth century, and then further expanded to supply steam-coal for the steam vessels that were beginning to trade around the world. The Cardiff Coal Exchange set the world price for steam-coal and Cardiff became a major coal-exporting port. The South Wales Coalfield was at its peak in 1913 and was one of the largest coalfields in the world.[15] In 2019 the percentage of electricity generated from coal was only 2% of total electricity generated. The last coal-fired power station in Wales was at Aberthaw, which finally closed its doors in March 2020.[7]

In 2021, no nuclear power stations were operating in Wales. The total capacity of electricity generated from fossil fuels was 7.4 GW and came from three sources:

  1. gas power (5.6 GW)[7]
  2. coal (1.6 GW )
  3. diesel (0.2 GW)

See also

National

Global

References
  1. "Renewable energy progress in Wales". regen. regen. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  2. Donovan, Owen. "Wales' Fiscal Future – Public Finances within the UK & Independence". The State of Wales. The State of Wales. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  3. Lloyd, Dai (14 November 2020). "Wales is not a global anomaly – it can be independent just like every other nation". Nation Cymru. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  4. "Adapting to Climate Change". Cadw. Cadw. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  5. "Wales' first ever climate change conference set to take place in Cardiff". ITV Consumer Limited. ITV News. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  6. "Permitted Development Rights and Non-Domestic Solar PV and Thermal Panels" (PDF). Welsh Government. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  7. Regen. "Energy Generation in Wales 2019" (PDF). Welsh Government. Welsh Government. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  8. Garrett, Frederick C., ed. (1959). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol.56. London: Electrical Press. pp. A-26 to A-110.
  9. "Prosperity for All: A Low Carbon Wales" (PDF). Welsh Government. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  10. "Dinorwig Power Station". engie. engie. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  11. MacKay, David JC (2009). Sustainable Energy - without the hot air. Cambridge: UIT. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-9544529-3-3.
  12. Could Anglesey’s tidal energy project drive a new energy revolution? The Guardian
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Blue Gem Wind starts Erebus-related onshore geotechnical study". Renewables Now. Renewables Now. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  15. Hughes, Stephen R. (1994). Collieries of Wales: Engineering and Architecture. Aberystwyth: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-1-871184-11-2.
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