Cefn Croes Wind Farm

  • Cefn Croes was earmarked for wind power in the 1990s, and an anemometer mast appeared there in 1998.
  • The planning application for the power station itself was submitted in 2000, and approved in 2002.
  • Construction took place in 2004-2005.
  • At the time of completion, Cefn Croes was the most powerful onshore windfarm in Wales.

Vital Statistics

  • 39 turbines, each 1.5 megawatt “installed capacity”
  • 58.5 megawatt – total installed capacity
  • 50 megawatt – installed capacity necessary to circumvent local planning procedures
  • 17 megawatt – average output (very optimistic – assumes generous 30% load factor)
  • 53,000 megawatt – peak UK electricity demand
  • 165,000 tonnes – operator-claimed annual CO2 emission savings due to Cefn Croes
  • 115,000 tonnes – more realistic (but still very optimistic) annual CO2 emission savings
  • 520,000 tonnes – annual CO2 emissions from a typical jumbo jet
  • 490,000,000 tonnes – UK CO2 emissions in 2012; 4260 x Cefn Croes savings
  • 310,000,000 tonnes – increase in Chinese CO2 emissions in 2012
  • 327′ (100m) – overall height of most of the turbines
  • 316′ (96m) – height of Houses of Parliament clock tower (“Big Ben”)
  • 7.5 sq. km – area of site, stretched out over 5km N-S and 5km E-W
  • 300 – abnormal articulated lorry loads delivering turbine components (conservative estimate)
  • 137′ (42m) – length of each of the 59 lorries carrying turbine blades (1½ miles of nose-to-tail lorries)
  • 30,000 – tonnes of concrete used during construction
  • 10,000 – tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted during manufacture of the concrete
  • 4 – minimum number of violations of planning conditions during construction
  • £16,000,000 – estimated annual income for Falck Renewables from Cefn Croes
  • £58,500 – annual handout (with strict conditions) to local communities via “Trust Fund”
  • £10,000 – annual handout to Environmental Management Committee for “ecological enhancement” of the site
  • 4 – number of permanent full-time jobs created or “safeguarded” by Cefn Croes (operator estimate)
  • 9 miles (14km) – length of grid-connect power line, carried on 100 pylons (mostly two-pole)
  • 5 – years from planning application to opening