I suppose I’d better begin by explaining where we are when I talk of ‘the Elenydd’. It’s the wild, and largely unpopulated uplands shown on this Google Earth capture.
The last true wilderness in Wales. Now it’s being industrialised and destroyed by the ‘renewables’ industry, all foreign-owned companies.
With other parcels of land being bought by ‘environmental’ groups and other sheep in wolf’s clothing. (That is not an allusion to the Fabian Society.) One of these groups gives the appearance of being Welsh, the others are the usual suspects; National Trust (NT), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) . . .
Here’s how Google AI describes the Elenydd:
The least populated and wildest area in southern Britain . . .
The largest continuous tract of blanket mire in the Welsh uplands, designated as a Special Area of Conservation supporting rare birds like red kites, merlins, and diverse upland flora.
Clearly, we are dealing with a very special area – one that should be left to those who have cared for it for generations. But that would mean farmers and others, now viewed as the enemy by those who have elected themselves our saviours from evils as diverse as the climate crisis and the threat from the far-right.
For the two are invariably linked. Those dictating how we behave, even what we eat, in response to the ‘climate crisis’, are often the same people telling us what’s acceptable thinking in the political sphere.
Because it’s all about control. Controlling us.
◊
FURTHER BACKGROUND
I’m going to start with a document produced by the self-styled ‘Welsh Government’ back in 2019, called Future Wales The National Plan 2040. There, in amongst this melange of hopes, dreams, incoherent ramblings and utter bullshit, on page 94, we find a map showing the areas set aside for wind farms.
They’re numbered and bounded in black. Roughly speaking, the Elenydd is north east of the area 8 panhandle and east of area 6.
Whatever the original purpose of this map showing ‘pre-assessed’ areas, it soon proved worthless and misleading.
A fact illustrated by the map below, produced by Caru Teifi, a group protesting against the pylon runs needed to take the electricity intermittently generated by wind farms to the grid connection point south of Carmarthen.
In the south it appears that most of the turbines built (light blue), and planned (dark blue) are outside the ‘pre-assessed’ areas.
And as you’ll see in a minute. it’s the same – or worse – in the area we’re looking at.
So what was the point of the ‘pre-assessed’ areas in the 2019 National Plan if the ‘Welsh Government was simply going to allow a “near enough” approach that borders on a free-for-all?
Time now to look at the wind turbine projects on the Elenydd. The known knowns, the known unknowns, the unknown unknowns, and the unknown knowns.
◊
WHAT’S PLANNED
We can safely identify four projects. Three we’ve known about for a few years, with another announced this year.
The first involves Scottish company Bute Energy Ltd. Their project is Lan Fawr. There was another project nearby labelled Bryn Brawd, but it seems they’ve merged. Now it’s one sooper-dooper project with 55 turbines up to 800ft in height. Labelled 1 in the image below, and in two parts.
Next is Belltown Power’s Waun Maenllwyd project. Just 4 to 6 turbines. Labelled 2 in the map above. It’s suggested the Belltown project might be taken over by Bute. Alternatively – and I find this interesting – that the Foresight Group, which is behind Belltown, might take over Bute!
Number 3 is Galileo Empower UK’s Bryn Cadwgan project. Galileo has it’s UK office in Edinburgh (and an outpost in Cardiff), but is owned by investors and pension funds from just about everywhere, as far away as New Zealand.
Lastly, we take a brief look at the newest of them, EDF’s Nant y Maen. This straddles the Tregaron to Abergwesyn road. It’s definitely in the pipeline; confirmed by this ‘WG’ document. EDF is wholly owned the French Government.
Local sources insist there are other projects yet to be unveiled. Two, it’s believed.
Access to these projects is planned from the A482 at Pumsaint. Something I covered in The Road To Hell back in November 2023. Then it’s over the old Dolaucothi Estate, now owned, like far too much of Wales, by the National Trust.
After Pumsaint, it’s anyone’s guess, but I guarantee it will involve new roads, hundreds or thousands of trees felled, and massive disruption to the environment over an extended period of time.
But before reaching Pumsaint the turbine columns and blades will be transported on huge diesel smoke-belching trucks along country roads from Swansea docks.
Disruption and destruction all the way so that foreign investors can make money.
Unless, of course, you’re stupid enough to believe that this is all being done to save the planet, and Wales will somehow benefit. Are you that stupid?
◊
‘WILL SOMEONE THINK OF THE NEWTS!’
In the intro I referred to a couple of recent purchases in the Elenydd by rewilders and others. So let’s look at them.
First, is one I covered in Land Of Our Fathers, But Not Our Children, in February. This concerned the purchase of 1195 acres by an outfit called Tir Natur.
The area bought is shown in this map by Caru Cymru I linked to earlier. It’s the dull green area below EDF’s Nant y Maen project. (I urge you to consult the Caru Teifi website maps and use the layers available to see what’s what in the area.)
Quite a purchase, and achieved with, according to Farmers Weekly and other sources, a “philanthropic bridging loan“. Wasn’t that nice!
Earlier this month, we learnt that the RSPB had bought 96 hectares at ‘Galltybere’ or ‘Gallt-y-Bere’, which is shown on OS maps (see above) as Craig Alltyberau. This adjoins the planned Galileo Empower Bryn Cadwgan wind farm.
And whaddya know – this purchase also received a “philanthropic loan“.
I wonder where these ‘loans’ come from? Can I have one?
Now for a detour, but not really a digression. We’re going to Scotland, sticking with the RSPB – and there’s more magic money!
Down the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh, not far from North Berwick, rising from the North Sea is the volcanic plug of Bass Rock. A home to many birds, and the largest colony of Northern Gannets.
These are magnificent birds, with a wingspan of six feet or more. While searching for prey they soar or glide until folding back their wings to dive into the sea.
Not far away is the Isle of May. This is home to 50,000 puffins, plus guillemots, razorbills, and other birds.
Hanging over this avian idyll is the threat of 307 wind turbines, in a project approved last year. As might be expected, RSPB Scotland objected. Stating:
Berwick Bank is a gigantic windfarm. To put it in perspective, it would take up an area four times the size of Edinburgh with more than 300 turbines – each the height of six Scott Monuments.
But then something strange happened. Operating through the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the UK government made a grant of £586,000 to RSPB Scotland – to buy Bass Rock!
I can’t help thinking that what was really being bought was the RSPB’s silence.
◊
CONCLUSION
You don’t need to be cynical to believe that when there’s billions of pounds, dollars, euros or whatever in profits to be made, certain measures will be taken to guarantee those profits. Among those ‘measures’ will be neutralising the opposition.
Unless they’re powerful and well organised, local groups can be largely disregarded, developers can even play one off against another. The same principle applies to landowners and farmers. But when it comes to groups that are well-established, with a national or even international structure, and have the ear of politicians, then a different approach is needed.
And this might explain the magic money that appears regularly in the accounts of wildlife and environmental groups. Sometimes it’s out in the open.
Aviva, the institutional investor owned by Vanguard and others, has given just shy of £40m to the Wildlife Trusts to restore Celtic Rainforests along the western edge of Britain. Much of this money will be coming to Wales. Some already has, and it’s gone to the Elenydd.
I dealt with this February, in The Latest Enviro-scam – ‘Celtic Rainforests’.
In fact, it seems most 0f Wales is a rainforest. Who knew?
Though the Elenydd seems to be in the ‘Oceanic Climate’ zone rather than that described as ‘Hyper Oceanic Climate’.
At the risk of coming across as a cynical old bastard I’ll spell out what I think might be happening in the Elenydd. Shyster ‘developers’ want to destroy an almost pristine wilderness for profit, and have, by one route or another, given money to environmental groups to buy adjoining land.
The developers will then argue that wind turbines, and the work associated with them, pose no threat to wildlife or the environment. If they did – then surely their neighbours like Tir Natur and RSPB would be complaining. “Stands to reason, squire“.
For their part, the recipients of this largesse will tell themselves that sacrifices must be made for the greater good and the bigger picture.
For you must remember that those I’m describing have bought into the climate scam, making their position ambivalent. And rarely have I seen it more evident than in the RSPB Scotland statement I linked earlier.
We can unlock a future where Scotland’s already struggling seabirds are helped to recover, while producing the renewable energy needed to help fight climate change.
So, for the greater good, sacrifices must be made. But that’s OK, as long as it’s the dicky birds making the sacrifice.
♦ end ♦
© Royston Jones 2026
From Mr Ioan Richard 4 Twynybew, Clydach, Swansea, SA65EN
aptrefor899@gmail.com 01792 843861
********************************
Please note that in his capacity as MP for Aberavon Mr Stephen Kinnock, who is now the Rt Hon Secretary of State for Wales, submitted his general opposition to Wind Turbines in his constituency at Y BRYN to PEDW. They are not site specific.
THESE GENERAL REASONS BELOW MUST BE VALID, MADE BY THE NOW SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WALES, AS NOW BEING VALID GENERALLY FOR WIND TURBINE PROPOSALS ANYWHERE ACROSS THE WHOLE OF WALES.
HERE ARE HIS WORDS which can be verified by PEDW’s FILES. Please quote him in OBJECTIONS and the SOURCE:-
Residents are deeply concerned that the area proposed to develop the wind farm is currently enjoyed by walkers and cyclists and fear that the impact of this development will deter visitors coming to the area due to the aspects of shadow flicker, noise and downdraft. • Planning guidance in the UK requires developers to investigate the impact of shadow flicker, but does not specify methodologies, leaving companies to set their framework and develop their own guidelines. Shadow flicker can cause a disturbance for affected residents of nearby properties and can have potentially harmful impacts on sufferers of photo-sensitive epilepsy. These potential impacts can be mitigated by micrositing turbines as far as practically possible from residential properties and through the use of technological fixes such as the shutting down of turbines during periods of predicted shadow flicker. I ask that further consideration is given to the siting of the turbines in relation to residential properties. • This area is an ecologically-rich and peat-prominent eco system and residents have expressed deep concern that deforestation and excavation practices could displace and harm many creatures, wildlife and their habitats that contribute vastly to our ecology and existence going forward. Alongside this, I am concerned that there does not appear to be a de-commissioning plan for when the turbines are at the end of their life. I believe that a planning condition must be included to deal with the waste left behind when the site is no longer operational. • Wind turbines can potentially affect the reception of television services. This is due to the reflections of the television signals from the blades of the turbine, resulting in multiple television signals being received and disrupt television reception by causing intermittent loss of services, pixelation or freezing. It may be prudent to place an obligation on Coriolis under the Town and Country Planning Act, to take necessary precautions so they don’t cause interference to television reception. • Finally, wind turbines generate noise due to aerodynamic effects. One significant contributor is the turbulent boundary-layer trailing edge of the airfoil. I understand serrated trailing edges have been studied for their noise reduction potential, which disrupt the flow of air, leading to reduced noise emission. Previous research has shown that serrated edges effectively reduce the noise produced by rotating machinery, including wind turbines and I ask if this will be considered prior to the final decision for Y Bryn windfarm.
Yours sincerely Stephen Kinnock, Member of Parliament for Aberavon
********End.
Please note – I give all my details at the top of my comment above. If anyone is to respond please give your full details and not Anonymously’ like the regular shites who comment on this useful BLOG at Jac’s kind discretion.
Interesting map?
These companies in many cases know that these turbines cannot be linked into the Grid but that is a btw because its all about the grant money they get at our expense and to show the shareholders that they are going to get a return on their investment and the director owners pay themselves millions out of treasury shares which they are legally allowed to do..so as Jac says..follow the money..
There are some of us who live here, fighting as hard as we can to oppose destruction of this area. I’ve written to NRW, regarding the need to protect peatland, CADW as the only viable access route through Dolaucothi estate is over the Roman Fort, MOD as huge flashing turbines would interfere with the lowflying in the TT area…of which I personally have seen huge C17 and A400ms, practically brush the top of our trees. I’ve also just written to Adam Price, in his role as both Minister for energy, and an MS for Carmarthenshire to point out that on 1st July, he stated that his vision for the future of renewable lies in our offshore fields and ports, in which case why isnt the new govt following that strategy, and what has been the encouragement/ incentive given for all these foreign investment funds to wish to industrialise the Cambrian mountains .On 1st July AP also stated he did not want a repeat of the coal era when energy was taken and Wales saw no benefit. I pointed out that these planning applications were aiming to do exactly that. I’ve yet to receive a detailed response. I should mention that I copied the email/letter to all the other 5MS, whilst I’ve had acknowledgements from the Plaid people, I’ve heard nothing from Reform…..sadly. So I’m doing my bit…even though it may be p…ing in the wind, as the saying goes. We’ve only lived here 16 years, Welsh only through Great forgotten ancestors…many locals are also very very upset, but dont know what to do to fight the proposals, and also are slightly wary of being called out for defying the need for unreliable windpower, and highly combustible battery storage; and whilst many are screaming against more pylons, they’ve not yet not argued against the reasons for them.
I don’t agree with the coal analogy.
To begin with, there was no real alternative to coal. It fuelled the Industrial Revolution and created the world we live in today. Here in Wales, coal gave us hundreds of thousands of jobs and created the communities so many Welsh people live in today. Including Cardiff, which grew in the 19th century as a port exporting the coal that came down from the hinterland.
The same could be said of other areas in Wales in the 19th century. The slate industry created tens of thousands of jobs in previously agricultural areas. In Swansea it was copper, Llanelli tinplate . . .
And there were Welsh coal owners and industrialists. People like David Davies. In Swansea, I grew up with tales of the Dillwyn Llewelyns. Even those who weren’t Welsh, like Crawshay Bailey, at least lived here, and put a lot back into the communities where their workers lived.
Without coal and the other industries Wales would have seen an exodus to the USA and elsewhere. Leaving us today with a population perhaps half the size it is.
By comparison, ‘renewables’ create hardly any jobs in Wales, and those who are really making the money are largely unknown to us, living far, far away.
You are right about locals who have no “stomach for the fight” Stella. Many at Pumsaint and the surrounding area seem to be carefree about the ‘gathering storm’ of these machines that are to be foisted on our precious countryside
These energy firms play a sneaky long game by involving the public of their intention with smoke and mirrors. The whole lot of them treat us natives with utter contempt…and believe we will jump at their box full of ‘trinkets and beads’!
As Abraham Lincoln once said: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. But you cannot fool all of the people all of the time”!
I assume people will only appreciate the scale of these industrial turbines when they see a single blade being transported through widened roads and removed hedgerows in their communities. Typical image attached.
Save our countryside from Lithium Batteries invasion by Electric Grid Power Storage
Here is some interesting DATA regarding giant Grid sized electric storage Lithium based batteries :-
The UK electric grid is installing many large shipping container sized Lithium based batteries to cope with the variable renewable wind turbine fluctuating power so what is the UK price of just one of these batteries and how many uncontrollable fires have they suffered?
A UK‑scale, shipping‑container‑sized lithium battery system typically costs £250,000–£550,000 per MWh, and the UK has had hundreds of lithium‑ion fires, but almost all are from consumer devices, e‑bikes, EVs, waste‑stream batteries — not grid‑scale BESS containers. Public data does not show a pattern of uncontrollable fires in UK grid‑connected battery containers.
1. Price of a UK grid‑scale containerised lithium battery (BESS)The UK uses containerised LFP‑based Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) for grid balancing. Prices are usually given per kWh or per MWh installed.
Utility‑scale pricing evidenceUK commercial/utility LFP systems ≥1 MWh cost £350–£550 per kWh installed.
Global containerised 1 MWh systems typically cost USD $250,000–$400,000 (≈ £195,000–£310,000) depending on duration and components.
Alibaba‑listed turnkey 1 MW/2 MWh containers range $79,999–$300,000 depending on configuration.
Practical UK figureFor a typical 1 MW / 2 MWh grid container (the common UK size): £350k–£550k per MWh → £700k–£1.1m per container.
For smaller 1 MWh units:£350k–£550k total.
So the realistic UK price for a “shipping‑container‑sized” grid battery is £350,000–£1,100,000 depending on capacity (1–2 MWh) and specification.
How many uncontrollable fires have UK grid batteries suffered? Key point:The available UK fire statistics do not report significant fires in grid‑scale BESS containers. The large rise in lithium‑ion fires comes from consumer devices, e‑bikes, EVs, vapes, and waste‑stream batteries, not utility‑scale installations.
What the data actually shows UK fire brigades now respond to 4.8 lithium‑ion fires per day, mostly phones, tablets, e‑bikes, scooters.E‑bike fires alone: 520 incidents in 2025.
EV fires: 279 incidents in 2025.
Waste‑system lithium battery fires: 1,200+ per year (mostly vapes and loose batteries).
************************************.
Why not a South Wales HYDRO Powered “Battery” system? Lifetime at least a hundred years whereas Lithium batteries might only last twenty five years. Water is a natural Welsh resource. Lithium is a rather rare foreign sourced metal from some countries that may be UK hostile that could hold us to ransom charges.
I make a personal suggestion here for a pumped Dinorwic style Hydro Electric Battery power storage system in South Wales instead of all these many agricultural fields full of ugly potentially explosive giant Lithium based storage batteries, many near our urban edges. to cope with the erratic unreliability of giant Wind Turbines on our scenic mountains.
Why not undertake a feasibility study on the costing and possibility of linking Cray Reservoir to the nearby above LlynyFan Fawr lake with opportunity of raising Cray Reservoir’s Dam and raising the over flow sill of nearby LlynyFan’s run off ? It could be about £1.3 billion, the cost today of repeating Dinowic probably far less as it does not involve any rock tunneling and creating a new lake. Such a system would have a lifetime of well over 100 years compared to Lithium batteries of maximum 25 years and Lithium resources could be subject of political blackmail from hostile supplying countries who mine and supply it whereas our water resource is Welsh and plentiful.
The altitude above sea level of the water at full capacity of the natural lake LlynyFan Fawr and Cray Reservoir in the County of Powys UK and the surface distance in kilometres between LlynyFan Fawr Lake and Cray Reservoir make it seem feasible in theory?
Here are some relevant facts I have ascertained :- Llyn y Fan Fawr sits at 605 m above sea level. Cray (Crai) Reservoir has a top water level of 305 m above sea level. A drop of 300m.
The straight‑line surface short pipeline distance between the two water bodies is only 5.5 km (derived from their mapped coordinates).
The nearest high‑voltage transmission line to Cray (Crai) Reservoir, to supply night time pumping up energy, and then take in the run down flow energy as needed at peak, is the nearby 275 kV National Grid line running north–south through the western Brecon Beacons, passing very nearby 1.5–2 km west of the reservoir. The line runs north–south along the western side of the Brecon Beacons. It passes west of Cray Reservoir, roughly 1.5–2 km from the reservoir’s western shore. The nearest existing pylons are located on the ridge between Fan Gyhirych and Fan Nedd. So there would be little need for new extra overhead lines. There are few residebces nearby. Of course there could eco disruption and an objection from graziers and from the legendary “Lady of the Lake” in nearby LlynyFan Fach.
As you know the GRID is not devolved to the fools in Cardiff – it is still (thank goodness) UK controlled. Planning is devolved. Thus our mountains are not safe in the hands of the present Wales Government
My DINORWIC style system of £1.3 billion is a total guesstimate – but comparable to the cost of many many many giant short lived very costly giant Lithium batteries – their cost when added up all over our fields everywhere is certainly comparable to be of the scale of £billions. Our Welsh politicians love spending (wasting) our £ money unwisely without question. We need to question them, but they rarely answer me. No doubt Jonathan Dean, spokesman for CPRW, will rubbish this posting, so can some other Jac readers please comment on it.
Reply from Rhun and Adam which for some odd reason got diverted to the Dafis bunker. It reads – “Ah, but,but, there’s no mention of how our friends at Bute and Copenhagen would benefit from all this. Please rewrite in a more inclusive style ” Occupant of Dafis bunker says “sounds good”
?
is that your coded way of telling me that you’ve now received the full whole-hearted support of Rhun,Adam and the rest of the team at Y Senedd?
Dafis ????, Nobody in the Plaid Cymru Group in the Senedd will ever correspond with me, including my local two constituency Plaid members – despite Rhun ap Iorwerth claiming after his “win” that his regime would represent all the people of Wales. It’s like a non violent dictatorship. Anyway Dafis I’m not going to answer you again when you cowardly remain an anonymous spookey shite. I always make all my details public and Putin style people like you Dafis do not bother me. So Dafis go and sit in a locked dark room!
The CPRW are the Wgov and do as they are told. I was involved with a project where the developer employed them to do the EIA which was bias to the person who paid them of course…
Wales Government is now run by a minority Plaid Cymru Group that is more pro Wind Turbines than Ed Miliand, with the Labour Group of nine also in favour, and the single Lib Dem probably all in favour of this destrucion of Cymru Fach to send erratic Wind Power to cities east of Offa’s Dyke via a network of Pylons and fields full of monster Lithium Batteries. Do not believe the forked tongue of Plaid Cymru in saying these monstrous erratic wind turbines will be community owned. They come from foreign countries costing millions of £pounds each. That is the bullshit preached by Plaid Cymru when reality shows that these communities cannot even afford a shared village mini bus. Sadly hardly anyone is protesting. The ghosts of former gwladgarwyr must be churning in lost graves.
It is true that Plaid support renewables, but then the vast majority of the U.K. do, so no surprise there. There is no evidence yet that Plaid are “more pro wind turbines than Ed Miliband” and that would be directly counter to comments made during the election campaign
Ed Miliband gets too much bad press for the current energy strategy – 95% of which was put in place by Boris Johnson following extensive public research by the Conservative Party following Theresa May’s amendment to the Climate Change Act in 2019
Quote: “We will be the Saudi Arabia of wind power”
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/british-energy-security-strategy/british-energy-security-strategy
Will Wales power English cities? Well it always has done, so why should the U.K. government consider that should change? Energy policy is not devolved and the Welsh Government cannot stop the U.K. Government building major power generation in Wales or Welsh seas
Does this mean Wales has to have mass onshore wind? No, not at all, not from the data published by NESO and DESNZ. Even if Wales had as much as 5,000 MW installed capacity of wind power that would still only be 10% of the GB total and if there were none at all it would make no difference to the big picture
We will have to wait and see whether Plaid deliver on the promises made during the election campaign
If Plaid are no more pro wind turbines than Labour, may well be true. But Plaid are more evangelical with Net Zero, than Labour – and are as zealous as the Greens! Up until recently, Plaid had an ambition to be net zero by 2035 – but have added a fiver to 2040, recently.
Plaid are also full supporters of the Climate and Nature Bill. If this piece of legislation had been passed in Westminster, then, by law, the UK would have wind turbines; solar panels; battery back up(bess) boxes, almost everywhere! Also eating meat would become a pleasure and a need of the past – ASAP!
Plaid Cymru has totally lost the plot, and has morphed into a cabal of indoctrinated loonies.
I never understood the 2035 date as it’s impossible in practice, but 2040 is possible mathematically and 2050 practically
Ive not come across much I disagree with otherwise
Sadly hardly anyone is protesting. The ghosts of former gwladgarwyr must be churning in lost graves. The indifference of some, the passivity of others, and the helplessness of another slice of our population all adds up to a wide open goal for the carpetbagger opportunists and their political allies. A population softened up by shallow materialism and consumerism shit scared about losing their widescreen TV’s and other “essentials”. Scoffing junk food without a clue about the means of growing or rearing the good stuff, yet contemptuous of farmers who work the land. And it gets worse. A growing dependency culture makes people compliant, they only get shirty when their freebies look to be under threat. Even working people have been roped into that tangled web.
That recent Senedd lection illustrates the point. At a time when a lot of pre election heat was generated about half the electorate failed to turn out. That signals a hazardous indifference among the population at large.
Lots of unjustified ransacking of Wales’ landscape has gone for decades but the prospective destruction of large tracts of Yr Elenydd is up there with the worst. Greed disguised as a noble programme to save the planet. Gullible adherents of those green gospels will turn precious fauna and flora into an industrialised desert and fill the coffers of corporate bandits.
How about 100+ acres of data centres, near Trawsfynydd?
Sounds like another bunch of bandits wanting in on the proceeds of crime!
Everybody’s got their snout in the climate crisis/net zero trough – with the public paying to fill the trough. Again and again.
Data centres have nothing to do with climate/net zero, although we will probably use AI to optimise energy use. My thermostat uses it
They’re horses from the same stable in that they’re both elements of the Globalist control agenda.
On a more prosaic level, we have for decades been told to use less water, less electricity, and now, along come these behemoths with an insatiable appetite for both – yet we’re expected to overlook that? And in many cases it’s the same companies making vast profits from ‘renewables’, providing an increasingly intermittent and unreliable supply for the public, who now demand guaranteed supplies for their data centers.
People aren’t going to notice?
You need to have a word with your DNO if your supply is intermittent and unreliable. They have strict targets to achieve
DCs will get a guaranteed supply if they are grid connected, and I’m sure they all will be
I’m not sure using AI to design amplifiers, as I have been, has much to do with any control agenda. Or using AI to control my heating
But will the grid be able to cope? And what about water? I reported a few weeks back that the AI data centers around Dublin may have water diverted to them from the Shannon. Is that sustainable, with an ever-increasing number of centers? Who pays for that – the public? And what about southern England, where water supply is already under great strain?
Yes, the grid will be able to cope. The Holyhead DC will use the same direct connection from Wylfa substation that Anglesey Aluminium used to use, which used a similar amount of electricity. The DC in Caernarfon will have a direct connection to Pentir substation. One of the reasons for making north Wales an “AI growth zone” is to burn up some of the power that will collect there rather than having to transmit it somewhere else to use, and so minimise grid investment
Water use in the US has been an issue due to choosing locations with groundwater supply and using evaporative cooling. We can use sea water cooling, like coastal power stations do. Although the little DC destined for Amlwch will just use small chillers
And it’s largely groundwater supply in southern England. Where demand is constantly increasing, leaks aren’t fixed, and no new reservoir has been built for 40(?) years?
Water will have to come from somewhere else.
Leaks aren’t fixed as the water is essentially free, it’s the pipes in the ground that cost money and fixing those puts bills up. Southern England has serious water constraints, there isn’t enough in East Anglia to build or operate Sizewell so a new reservoir is being built. Scotland has both excess electricity and lots of water, but doesn’t have he best comms links, but comms are easier to sort out than pipes and turbines
One factor you’re neglecting is shareholder dividends, which helps explain the lack of investment and maintenance.
The way the industry was privatised, and currently regulated, all investment and maintenance plans have to be approved by Ofwat (as was, not sure now) and the costs recovered from consumers. Historically leak repair has always been hindered by the desire to keep from passing the cost on to consumers. We could easily fix all leaks but bills would skyrocket and the actual service provided would be unchanged
Shareholder return is an entirely separate issue. Even if cut to zero that wouldn’t necessarily mean any leaks get fixed with the industry set up as it is
You know where I stand on the public/private debate, but certain services should be owned and run by the state, on behalf of, and in the interests of, the public at large. Water comes into that category.
I might make an exception if there were water companies competing for customers in any given area. This should – unless a cartel entered the picture – work in the interests of consumers.
I don’t actually, but totally agree, utilities should be publicly owned
We are part way there with NESO for energy. At least all the major decisions are taken in the public interest (even when they’re wrong)
Basically, natural monopolies where there is no scope for healthy competition to improve provision and reduce prices. Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand is stuck in its pocket.
Cartoon attached.
Thanks Jac. Great post by you again on this subject. Totally agree with your analysis and conclusion.
Entering the words “anthropogenic climate change” into UK Column search engine, at link below, produces compelling evidence of the global climate change scam you refer to, that underpins renewable energy policy in countries around the world.
https://www.ukcolumn.org/search?keywords=anthropogenic+climate+change
I sense that change is happening. Often driven by realising the cost of net zero, and then working backwards to find out why we’re doing it. For example, VW laying off tens of thousands of workers was a jolt in Germany. Once impartial evidence is allowed into the debate the lie becomes difficult to sustain.
And it’s lies all the way through. Pretending that the Elenydd must be destroyed to save the planet, rather than to make a lot of money for companies that are already rich. More and more people see through the hypocrisy.
Cartoon attached.
Re: your graphic of almost all of Wales being declared ‘rainforest’ climate. I vaguely remember reading in the Evening Standard years ago about some plan or initiative afoot to declare all of Greater London as a National Park, SSSI, habitat or something, on account of all the urban and green area wildlife within its borders. Have to wonder now whether such an environmental 2 + 2 = 5 mathematical proof was another scam and whether such similar might be plied our way.
It’s all a scam. One ‘discovery’ after another telling us how fragile the environment is – because of us – and how much money must be spent to put things right. With the money always heading to those who discovered the crisis! It’s an amazing system.
I’ve known of the Celtic rainforest for decades, it’s nothing new, and there isn’t much left, but the conditions are right
‘Conditions’ for what?
It’s the right temperature, rainfall and altitude for deciduous tree cover. Some patches remain. Quite wonderful with dense ferns and moss under stunted oaks
Then I agree. And I would recommend leaving these areas alone and allowing their natural growth, and to reclaim former habitats.
Where I disagree is with ‘environmental’ groups demanding to be given control (and funding) because they argue they and they alone can safeguard these rainforests. And then the usual suspects lining up behind them to demand that rainforests be monetised, and them paid for doing nothing other than owning them.
Hi Jack, we live on a 6 acre plot just outside of morriston hospital. When came here 30 years ago we had about 10 nesting pairs of house Martins, now sadly none. Wind Turbines and possibly solar panels are at fault here. Where is the RSPB now, do they recieve financial reward in keeping quiet?
I believe they do. They must be aware of the damage being done – so why are they silent?
Monitoring of the Llanwern solar site on the Gwent levels has shown a 90% reduction in bat feeding activity since the solar farm was built, caused by the reduction in insects
That doesn’t surprise me. has RSPB been informed?
I don’t know about RSPB but I was told this by the Gwent Wildlife Trust who are fighting more solar on the Gwent Levels
Good for them. Now let’s hear the local wildlife trust, RSPB, Tir Natur and the rest fight against the destruction of Yr Elenydd.
Totally agree, once this land has gone gone for good.
The companies putting up the turbines might not be around when they start falling apart, or when the scam is over, and it’ll all fall on the public purse. The money needed to remove the turbines and (attempt to) restore the land should have been demanded up front. But again, the ‘Welsh Government’ failed Wales. Though, in fairness, they were probably taking orders from London.
When all this rapacious feeding of our landscape of Cymru Fach ends, when the foreign Wind Turbine Developers and their foreign Wind Turbine suppliers and foreign Wind Turbine construction teams, go home, and when the present Cabinet of the Plaid Cymru Turbine Hugging minority Government retires to Los Palmas, all these Wind Turbines will finally be torn down. Their towers will go to an electric arc furnace EAF overseas as the EAF at Port Talbot may not have enough power to smelt an ice cream. All the nasty bits in their generators will go overseas for child labour to hand pick out and salvage rarer metals. The blades wil get crushed into making synthetic green concrete for use here to build more second homes. The only excption to all this will be their utterly monstrous concrete and steel bases. They will be left to scar the landscape of Cymru Fach forever for eternity as artificial “Tors” to mimic the natural Tors of Dartmoor.
England will retain stonehenge for tourists, when the tourist operators here will run Quad Bike tours up into the hills to see the monster “Cerrig Rhun” and “Cerrig Adam”. Hopefully our descendants will tell the history.
Getting quite poetic, Ioan.