Penllergaer

Welcome to our dedicated website for the development of Penllergaer Solar Park, a circa 40 megawatt (MW) direct current (DC) solar park located approximately 8 kilometres to the northwest of Swansea.

Our proposal has the potential to provide enough clean, affordable energy to meet the power needs of c. 14,000 homes while avoiding c. 11,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year.

We are in the early stages of the developing our proposals. We are committed to working closely with local residents and stakeholders as we develop our proposals to ensure that the project deliver clean, green affordable energy as well as improving local ecosystems, economy and providing community benefits.

We are pleased to share our initial proposal and welcome any feedback over the coming months. Further information and a draft planning application will be made available during our statutory pre-application programmed later in 2024, as we progress through the pre-application planning process.

Email: enquiries@penllergaersolar.com

Phone: 01792001553

About the project

About Penllergaer Solar Park

The site
Elements Green is developing a proposal for a solar farm, approximately 8 kilometres to the northwest of Swansea. Penllergaer Solar Park will contribute to the Welsh Government’s target to meet 100% of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2035. The total site area is approximately 101 hectares over 2 parcels of land (referred to as the East Parcel and the West Parcel) on the edge of the Penllergaer Forest, to the east of Pontlliw, south of Felindre and north of Tircoed and the M4 motorway.

The Proposals
Penllergaer Solar Park would be an array of solar panels covering approximately 50Ha. The solar park would be capable of generating circa 40 MW DC. The remaining site area will be used in part, for underground cabling, ecological enhancement, and access. The total extent of cable routes and ecological enhancement will be determined during the pre-application process. Our initial site layout plan shows the potential arrangement of solar panels across the site. Due to the scale of the proposed Penllergaer Solar Park, it is classed as a Development of National Significance (DNS) and a planning application will be submitted to the Planning Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) for determination by Welsh Ministers. This applies to all energy generation projects between 10MW and 350MW. Although Swansea Council will not determine the planning application, it is a key statutory consultee and will prepare a Local Impact Report for PEDW on the application.

Connection to Grid
The solar park will be connected to the Swansea North substation in Llangyfelach to the southeast. The location was chosen due to its proximity to the substation, the topography of the land, the significant level of existing natural screening and lack of agricultural operations on the Site. Underground cables would carry the energy to the substation, from where National Grid would distribute the energy to the wider area.

Need for Penllergaer Solar Park

View full layout

The Need for Penllergaer Solar Park

A key reason for choosing this site for a solar park is the availability of a grid connection. National Grid is working to accelerate the development of clean energy production and this proposal will help achieve this.

The Welsh Government has set ambitious target to deliver 100% of its annual electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2035. Julie James’ (Previous Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning) Written Statement setting out this target is linked below. This is a target taken forward by Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and new Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs.

https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-publication-summary-responses-consultation-wales-renewable-energy-targets

Large scale solar developments, such as the proposed Penllergaer Solar Park, are recognised as having an important role to meeting this target. Subject to being consented and becoming operational, Penllergaer Solar Park would have the capability of generating clean, affordable, home-grown electricity that would annually avoid around 16,000 tonnes of carbon emissions from entering our atmosphere.

It would also support UK energy security and contribute to tackling the cost-of-living crisis through the reduction of household energy bills.

Elements Green

Elements Green, the developer of the Penllergaer Solar Park, is a UK-based renewable energy developer with a 15-year track record of delivering renewable energy projects globally.

Elements Green has established a reputation for being at the forefront of technological and commercial evolution within the renewable energy sector and is committed to powering the world’s future energy needs.

Using our understanding of the renewables sector, we are delivering innovative and sustainable solutions for global energy security and the needs of a rapidly evolving world.

Further information about Elements Green is available here.

Consultation

We want to hear the views of those who live and work near the proposed Penllergaer Solar Park. We have organised two drop-in events for people to find out more information, meet the project team and ask any questions they may have:

Consultation (English)

Consultation (Welsh)

Penllergaer Solar Park

1 Half Moon Street

London

United Kingdom

W1J 7AY

enquiries@penllergaersolar.com

01792001553