Plaid Cymru accused of hypocrisy in windfarm and pylons row

Martin Shipton

Plaid Cymru has been accused of acting hypocritically by ditching its commitment to renewable energy and embracing “nimbyism” in one of its heartland areas.

A row has blown up over the investment of nearly £70m of Welsh local government pension fund money in a controversial project to build both wind farms and pylons across Carmarthenshire and Powys.

Campaigners claim the related schemes by Bute Energy and its sister company GreenGen Cymru would in its current form destroy unspoilt countryside across a 50-mile stretch of mid and west Wales.

But some members of the Wales Pension Partnership, which manages pension fund investment for council and other public sector workers across the nation, believe that Plaid Cymru-controlled Carmarthenshire County Council has acted in bad faith by initially supporting the plans and then changing its mind.

‘Bewildering’

A Welsh local government pension fund insider contacted NationCymru and said: “It’s bewildering to see Carmarthenshire County Council’s sudden shift in stance regarding their investment in green energy projects through the Dyfed Pension Fund. This is a complete farce. The council, along with other pension funds in Wales, initially signed up to this investment because it presented a good opportunity for sustainable growth and good returns on behalf of their pensioners.

“Now, under pressure from [former Plaid leader and local MS] Adam Price and influenced by local political manoeuvring ahead of the general election, this Plaid Cymru-led council is trying to pull out of their commitment.

“This is not only disgraceful but also financially detrimental to the pensioners in the Dyfed Pension Scheme. Should they withdraw from this investment prematurely, it’s local pension holders who will bear the financial brunt of such a hasty decision.

“Furthermore, this action is a clear failure in their fiduciary duty. The council is supposed to safeguard investments, not undermine them due to political pressure. To claim that they were unaware of the Bute and GreenGen plans regarding planning is surely nonsense. If this truly is the case, then they have failed in their duty to perform adequate due diligence.

“It’s total hypocrisy; on one hand, Plaid claims to support green investments and renewable energy initiatives. On the other, they reject a golden opportunity for a green investment when it’s right in front of them, siding with nimby [not in my back yard] sentiments rather than looking at the broader benefits for Wales and the planet.

“This behaviour shows they can’t be trusted to make consistent, long-term decisions on climate change. It’s evident that Carmarthenshire council and Plaid Cymru are not reliable partners in the fight against climate change if they flip-flop on such crucial investment opportunities. We need to be clear and consistent in our approach to renewables, not bending under short-sighted political pressures.”

But Alun Lenny, a senior Plaid Carmarthenshire councillor who sits on the committee that scrutinises investment decisions made by the Dyfed Pension Fund, insisted there was no inconsistency in Plaid Cymru’s or the council’s position.

Onshore wind development

He said: “The Bute Group has a clean energy investment strategy focussing on onshore wind development. Wales was seen as being appropriate for investment consistent with the Welsh Government’s Future Wales National Plan 2040 – which indicates a presumption in favour of large-scale wind energy in pre-assessed areas and which provides a favourable planning framework for additional sites.

“Bute Energy Development Holdings Limited is the holding company for a number of subsidiary companies, one for each of its proposed 16 onshore wind projects in Wales. Bute needed to raise capital to finance the formal planning applications. In April 2022 Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), a large financial investor with extensive experience in the renewable energy field, agreed to provide Bute with a development loan. After completion of consents it’s expected the projects will be sold with proceeds being used to repay the development loan.

“In 2022 the Wales Pension Partnership agreed to invest in green energy by taking a 35% participation in the existing Bute Development Loan – a sum which amounted to about £68m. This agreement was signed in December 2022.

“Subsequently, Bute made known that electricity from one of the proposed energy parks, Nant Mithil windfarm site in south Powys – just a stone’s throw from the English border – would be carried on steel pylons a distance of some 50 miles to a substation near Carmarthen. The Tywi-Usk proposal, as it’s called, only became known to us when landowners in the Tywi Valley received letters in January 2023 from GreenGen Cymru, a subsidiary of Bute Energy Development Holdings, formed to connect electricity generated by the Bute developments to the National Grid.

“The revelation caused uproar, with hundreds of people attending public meetings in a number of towns and villages. Carmarthenshire County Council is currently investing £17m, mainly Levelling Up Fund money, on a 16-mile traffic-free path for cyclist and pedestrian through the Tywi Valley, one of the most scenic areas in Wales, with several ancient castles, mansions and gardens. It would attract visitors from all over the UK and beyond with the potential to generate around £4.5m a year for the local economy.

“The council considers that a line of steel pylons down the valley would cause significant damage to the landscape and impact on scheduled monuments and listed buildings, thereby seriously conflicting with our investment as an authority. For this reason, also as owners of council farms in the proposed path of the pylons, and consistent with the public outcry, the council has declared that it supports residents’ and local businesses’ concerns regarding the proposal to erect pylons to link Nant Mithil Energy Park to the National Grid in Carmarthenshire, and believes that Bute Energy should work with landowners to place the cables underground.

“Since then, the Tywi-Teifi plan was announced to link a windfarm near Lampeter with the substation near Carmarthen, again via steel pylons crossing our county, and again causing public outcry.

“To underground the cables would remove objections overnight. This has been the practice with 132kv connections in Denmark where CIP has its HQ, since 2008.

“It’s valid that questions are asked on an issue which affects the Wales Pension Partnership investment, such as did the company address or has the company failed to address crucial issues like the comparative costs and impacts of undergrounding by cable ploughing, compared with conventional overhead lines via pylons. Has it already committed to a predetermined position without fully considering the evidence?”

Resolution

The county council has passed a resolution proposed by Cllr Lenny that the Dyfed Pension Fund Committee should explore the financial implications of selling its investment in the Bute Energy / GreenGen Cymru scheme.

Cllr Lenny rejected the allegation of hypocrisy and told NationCymru: “We are being entirely responsible in wanting GreenGen to put the cable underground and in examining what impact selling the investment would have on the pension fund.”