Strategically important wind energy projects in Wales are being hampered by the local trunk road authority and local councils according to wind farm developers.
Wind energy developers want to carry out wind turbine delivery ‘dry run trials’ through Welsh towns to establish likely physical obstructions - before investing in multi million pound wind farms.
Despite independent studies submitted by wind energy developers indicating suitable routes, the Mid - Wales Trunk Road Authority has refused to allow any trial runs without traffic management plans. The Welsh police are also asking for traffic regulation orders. Wind energy representatives say that the request is overkill for dummy wind turbine delivery runs - when the vehicles would not be delivering wind turbine components.
A study carried out for Powys Council last year reported that narrow roads would have difficulty handling trucks needed to carry the 500+ wind turbines planned for Powys and Ceredigion over the next few years. The wind turbines are expected to be delivered from Scandinavia or Europe to Ellsemere Port docks in north west England, and transported to mid - Wales via Newtown and Carno to locations near Aberystwyth and in Carmarthenshire.
Powys Council have rejected delivery plans from wind energy developers Nuon and West Coast Energy because they do not ‘contain enough detail and do not follow approved routes’.
Powys are worried that police forces will not have the resources to escort the trucks, despite payment by the wind energy companies. Due to the size of the loads they will not allow haulage companies to escort their own vehicles.
Wind energy developers appear in a difficult situation. After the long delays incurred as a result of the Welsh Assembly’s protracted ’strategic wind energy project area’ allocation process, these latest obstructions by Powys appear to be twisting the knife in the wind energy industry’s side.
