Secretary of State for Wales opens local wind farm

14th July 2006

Full operation of npower renewables's Ffynnon Oer Wind Farm in the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot was officially marked by Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland and MP for Neath today, during a formal opening ceremony at the wind farm and Gnoll Stadium in Neath.

Mr Hain, who has supported the Ffynnon Oer project throughout the development, planning and construction period, was joined by his constituents and landowners of the Ffynnon Oer site, the Mogford family, and from npower renewables, managing director Kevin McCullough and development manager for Wales, Dr Mark Legerton, to toast the completion of the sixteen wind turbine project.

Mr Hain said,

"It is now well known and well documented that we face enormous challenges with regard to our future energy supplies. Climate change is a reality no one can ignore and we must also address the future security of UK energy supplies.

"Investment in renewables is at the heart of the Government's Energy Review, which was published earlier this week.

"Renewables will play a crucial part in the energy mix going forward because of their potential to make a significant contribution to reducing our carbon dioxide emissions as well as the further development of indigenous energy sources.

"We are well placed in Wales to make our contribution with our natural resources and, in particular, our geography and wind patterns.

"We can therefore play a key strategic role in the delivery of the wind power required to help meet the Government's target of 10 per cent of electricity to be generated from renewables by 2010, and Ffynnon Oer represents a welcome step in that direction.

"At the time planning was agreed, I was living in the village of Resolven and the wind farm was therefore almost in my back yard. It is important everyone is prepared to support clean, green energy like this."

Kevin McCullough said,

"We are delighted to have developed and constructed Ffynnon Oer which is a well designed, powerful renewable energy project. This wind farm and others like it are an important part of Wales' strategy to help combat climate change and meet its energy needs. Every year, the wind farm will generate enough clean electricity to supply some 17,000 homes and will prevent the annual release of some 67,000 tonnes of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere by power stations burning fossil fuels."

Ffynnon Oer Wind Farm is located on rough grazing upland where sheep and cattle are farmed by the Mogford family. Cath Mogford who runs the farm with her husband Steve said,

"As a traditional family farm facing economic challenges and changing times, we decided some time ago that we needed to find a diversification project that would be compatible with farming our sheep flock and herd of Pedigree Welsh Black Cattle.

We had been approached by opencast coal mining companies but knew opencasting could render the mountain unsuitable for agriculture in the long term.

Steve came up with the idea of a wind farm and we partnered up with npower renewables to take the idea forward.

We are delighted that after the years spent conducting site assessments, putting the project through the planning process and eventually building the wind farm, our dream is now a reality.

We now know that we can look forward with confidence to the future for the eighth generation of our family continuing to farm in the beautiful Welsh hills we call home."

The opening ceremony at the wind farm was attended by some 80 guests including local council representatives and representatives from the energy and environment sectors as well as companies and organisations who have participated in the project.

Having taken a closer look at the wind farm, guests at the event were invited to take part in some "energy games" produced by Year 4/5 pupils from nearby Clun Primary School. The school was the first to take part in a local education programme delivered in partnership by npower renewables and education charity CREATE (Centre for Research Education and Training in Energy) amongst both primary and secondary schools in the area around Ffynnon Oer.

Mr Millis, head teacher at Clun Primary said,

"The children have thoroughly enjoyed understanding about different forms of power that can maintained in a natural way. The school appreciates all the extra time and resource that npower renewables and CREATE have spent with us working alongside our children."

Kevin McCullough said,

"We are very pleased to be supporting the schools energy education programme delivered in partnership with CREATE, and we hope that we will have a continuing involvement with local schools who now have their own real-life example of renewable power in action here at Ffynnon Oer Wind Farm."

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