No pylons: The battle for the countryside in a beautiful part of Wales

If you’d been to the Urdd National Eisteddfod in Carmarthenshire this week or popped into any country pub across the beautiful Towy Valley recently, chances are you’d have seen or read something about an ongoing battle to preserve this particular part of rural Wales the way it is today — because it could look very different in years to come if an energy firm’s plans come to fruition.

Bute Energy, under the name Green GEN Cymru, plans to use huge pylons to connect several wind farms to the National Grid. The project would include 132kV electricity overhead lines which will link Nant Mithil Energy Park, east of Llandrindod Wells in Powys, to a connection point in Carmarthenshire. You can keep up to date with the latest news across the county by signing up to the local newsletter here.

The proposal will connect 237MW of green energy in the Radnor Forest of Powys to the grid at a point near Carmarthen. The exact route is undetermined with the project still at an early stage, but the scheme currently includes proposals for 27-metre high pylons to be placed across swathes of countryside in west and mid Wales, including across the Towy Valley.

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At the Urdd Eisteddfod, held in Llandovery during half-term week, visitors would have seen signage at the sides of roads and in fields emblazoned with the words ‘No Pylons’. And people returning to their cars parked in an around the ‘Maes’ – the central staging area of the event – would likely have seen a leaflet on their windscreen with the message ‘Cofiwch Ddyffryn Tywi’, in a font and style reminiscent of the Cofiwch Dryweryn logo which has become something of a national symbol in Wales, in reference to when a Welsh community was effectively lost forever. You can read more about that here.

The plan to erect pylons across a large area – an estimated 60 miles – has come under fierce scrutiny and criticism. While Bute Energy claims the project will increase grid capacity and utilise green energy in Wales, a number of campaign groups have been set up along the valley in opposition, uniting in the belief that the pylons should be placed underground, arguing that a seemingly never-ending line across the landscape would spoil the beauty on offer in this part of the country.

An example of the pylons that could be erected across the Towy Valley and beyond(Image: Media Wales)

Llandovery Pylon Community Action Group, set up in opposition to the plans, say: “As a group, we fully support renewable energy, but believe any development must respect the environment, not damage it. The cables and their pylons that Green GEN Cymru/Bute Energy are proposing, would run through some of the most historic and environmentally sensitive landscapes in Wales. We want to preserve our beautiful rural area for future generations and not allow it to be damaged and devalued for profit. The entire concept of relying on overground cables using pylons is flawed. If such a link is needed, then there is a strong consensus that the cables should be routed underground, regardless of the additional cost. However, the best option for the country to meet its net zero targets would be to locate the green energy source nearer to its potential grid connection site.