Welsh firm lands £46.5m contract for first major mid Wales wind farm in nearly a decade

Nation.Cymru staff

A Welsh civil engineering firm has secured a £46.5m contract to help build what is described as the first significant new wind farm in mid Wales for almost a decade.

Ruthin-based Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK has been appointed principal contractor for the 10-turbine Carno III Wind Farm in Powys, where work has already started.

The 45MW development is expected to cost more than £100m in total and, according to its developers, will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of around 46,000 homes a year.

Carno III is being developed by Carno 3 LLP, a joint venture between Amegni Renewables and Gresham House, and is expected to be completed in autumn 2027.

Jones Bros will construct the turbine foundations, a new substation and control building and carry out cabling work.

Its contract also includes upgrading more than 4.4km of existing access tracks, building 4.7km of new tracks and carrying out improvements to highways to enable turbine components and other equipment to reach the site.

The company will also install 20km of underground cable between Welshpool substation and a connection point south of Abermule as part of reinforcement work on SP Energy Networks’ mid Wales electricity grid.

Up to 90 people, including apprentices, are expected to work on the project.

The last wind farm described by the developers as a significant development to become fully operational in mid Wales was Garreg Lwyd, between Llandrindod Wells and Newtown, which began generating electricity in 2017.

Jones Bros previously worked with Amegni on the Carno II wind farm in 2009.

Senior contract manager Rhys Roberts said: “It’s a landmark moment for mid Wales after a lengthy period without any new significant wind farm developments.

“Having delivered Clocaenog Forest Wind Farm, our highly skilled team is looking forward to helping bring Carno III to fruition.

“We were the principal contractors on Carno II back in 2009 for Amegni, so this is something of a full circle moment for us as a company.

“It’s also our highest value wind farm contract in Wales to date.”

Carno III will join the existing Carno I and Carno II developments. Once the new project is operational, the three wind farms will have a combined 78 turbines and installed capacity of nearly 100MW.

The developers say the three schemes will provide a combined £250,000 a year in community benefit payments in mid Wales.

Carno III itself includes more than 350 hectares of habitat enhancement and peat restoration work, improvements to local public rights of way and a community benefit package worth more than £3.5m over the lifetime of the development.

Amegni Renewables, which was formed by farmers from Carno and operates the two existing wind farms, said more than £50m of contracts connected with Carno III had been awarded to Welsh businesses and individuals.

Grid upgrades

Director Sion Thomas also used the start of the project to call on the new Welsh Government to support further renewable energy developments and improvements to the electricity grid in mid Wales.

He said: “As a local company, we call on the new Plaid Cymru Government to support projects like this through the planning system and encourage the necessary grid upgrades in mid Wales to help deliver the economic growth needed.

“Carno III is a good example of what can be achieved when investment in renewable energy also delivers meaningful local economic benefits.”

Jones Bros employs around 550 people and works on infrastructure projects including highways, flood and marine defences, reservoirs, waste management and renewable energy developments across the UK.

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