Llynfi Afan Renewable Energy Park Community News

Spring/Summer 2016

WELCOME FROM THE TEAM Hello and welcome to the first construction newsletter for the Llynfi Afan Renewable Energy Park.

Since you last heard from us we have been working hard with your council to organise the new transport routes for our turbines. Consent was obtained during February 2016 and preparations are now underway for our wind turbine deliveries later this year. LLYNFI AFAN RENEWABLE ENERGY We know it is important to make sure that as local residents, you PARK BEGINS CONSTRUCTION know exactly what is happening, when it is happening and how April 2016 marked the start of construction works for the Llynfi Afan Renewable this may affect you. We will be Energy Park (LAREP), which is located near Croeserw and Blaengwynfi. bringing you updates through The construction stage of the development has now begun. The team are in the our newsletters, website and process of upgrading and creating new onsite access tracks and have started works social media. on the substation. They will soon begin construction of the turbine foundations and crane standing pads, all in preparation for turbine deliveries and the erection of the On behalf of the project team, turbines. Deliveries of the turbines, blades and nacelles are scheduled for delivery I hope you find our updates useful later this year. Our construction timeline can be found overleaf. and informative. It is expected that the first turbine will be erected around November, ready for And don’t forget, if you have any generation in late 2016. questions or want more information, you can get in touch with the team Once constructed, LAREP will be capable of generating the equivalent amount using the contact details on the of energy to meet the annual needs of around 13,1501 homes. back of the newsletter. An operational Community Benefit Fund will also be made available to the communities neighbouring the site along with a separate fund for those on the We look forward to hearing wind turbine delivery routes to help fund local community projects. from you, Residents will be receiving the next community update ahead of the wind Lee Watt turbine deliveries and can find real-time updates via the project website Llynfi Afan REP Project Manager www.llynfiafanrep.com and the twitter feed @llynfiafanREP

Os hoffech dderbyn copi o’r cylchlythyr hwn yn Gymraeg, cysylltwch â’n llinell gymorth gymunedol ar 0330 363 6229. 1This is calculated using the most recent statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change showing annual UK average domestic household consumption of 4,115kWh and a national onshore load factor of 25.74%

www.llynfiafanrep.com PROJECT DETAILS WIND TURBINE COMPONENT DELIVERIES

You may recall back in April and May 2015 we held police escorted trial runs of the potential transport routes for the wind turbine components. This allowed all parties to determine the constraints and identify the safest delivery routes and help deliver the project.

Which routes were chosen? Following the trial runs, we have identified two routes to take the wind turbine components to site: theNeath Llynfi Afan REP route and the Cynon Taf route. We have worked closely with the police and both councils to create a traffic management plan, ensuring that any deliveries of the wind turbine components to the site will cause as little disruption to local communities as possible.

Neath Port Talbot The site Port Talbot Route KEY DETAILS This route will see the turbine towers and nacelles transported The route to the site. The vehicles will arrive at the site via the M4, exiting Place names at Junction 40 and will then travel along the A4107 and turn Number of turbines: Cymmer Abergwynfi 12 right into the site. Cynonville A4107 Llynfi Afan Renewable Capacity: Deliveries are expected to take place Monday – Friday 09:00 Energy Park Pontypridd 24MW 40 -15:00 and Saturday 08:00 – 13:00. These deliveries will Port Talbot Caerphilly Equivalent Around 1 be confirmed in due course but is anticipated to start from Contains OS data © Crown copyright Homes Served: 13,150 M4 the 10th October 2016 and last for approximately 6 weeks. Specific timings to be confirmed by South Police. Cardiff

COMMUNITY BENEFIT FUND Rhondda Cynon Taf The site Rhondda Cynon Taf Route This route will see the transportation of the turbine blades to The route Place names the site by exiting the M4 at Junction 34. The loads will travel We are delighted to confirm that as the closest neighbours to the site, the wards of Cymmer, Gwynfi, Blaengarw and

along the A4119 towards Tonypandy before turning onto the Caerau will be able to apply for the annual Community Benefit Fund, made available by LAREP. A4107 Ton Pentre A4061 B4223 A4058. At Ton Pentre, the route will turn onto Church Street and Swansea Llynfi Afan Tonypandy Porth Maesteg Renewable The fund, worth £96,000 per year (index-linked) for 25 years, will be available for community focused projects then Bailey Street before merging onto the B4223. The route Energy Park Pontypridd A4119 and organisations. will then take the A4061 to Cwm-Parc where the deliveries will Port Talbot Tonyrefail Caerphilly travel along the A4107, before turning inside the forestry and Pontyclun In addition, a one off payment of £450,000 will be made available to the communities along the wind turbine delivery M4 routes. The breakdown is as follows: accessing the site. Bridgend 34 Cardiff ■ £250,000 of this money will be awarded to the ward ■ £200,000 of this money will be awarded to the Deliveries are expected to take place each Sunday between 9am of Pentre with £125,000 guaranteed to improve road wards of Cymmer and Gwynfi with £100,000 of that and 3.30pm from the 10th October arriving via the top section of infrastructure throughout the ward. The remaining guaranteed for the Cymmer swimming pool fund. the A4107 near the Bwlch for approximately 6 weeks. monies will help to fund local projects within the The remaining monies will go towards funding local Pentre ward. projects within the Cymmer and Gwynfi Wards. We are committed to ensuring there is as little disruption to local residents as possible. The above dates are current best estimates and will be confirmed closer to the time. An updated timeline will be published on the project website More information and instructions on how to apply for these funds will be made available in the next newsletter. (www.llynfiafanrep.com) and via the project twitter feed (@llynfiafanREP). If you have any questions regarding the wind turbine deliveries please do not hesitate to get in touch using the details overleaf.

CONSTRUCTION The construction of Llynfi Afan Renewable Energy Park can be summarised into the following five phases, each duration of phase overlapping each other:

Preparatory work began in April 2016 which involved preparing the site for construction and the associated workforce before starting with construction of the APRIL MAY OCTOBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER new and partial upgrade of the existing access tracks. Once these access tracks have been constructed to a suitable standard, a temporary construction compound 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 will be built before undertaking the full civil engineering (e.g. rest of the tracks, crane hardstandings, foundations, control building) and electrical engineering works. On-site mobilisation of Civil and electrical Wind turbine deliveries – Turbine erection and Reinstatement of the site Once the construction of the access tracks, crane hardstandings and wind contractors infrastructure turbine components commissioning Duration = 2 months turbine foundations have been completed, the wind turbine components will Duration = 1 month construction works Duration = 2 months Duration = 3 months be delivered and erected, commissioned and tested. Duration = 8 months Timings are correct at time of printing but may be subject to change. Dates of the wind turbine component Following construction the site will be reinstated. deliveries will be made to residents in advance of their arrival and may be subject to parking restrictions. ABOUT GAMESA

Gamesa is a global technological leader in the wind industry, with a footprint in 55 countries. We became involved in the UK energy industry in 2003. Since then, we have been developing wind farms across the UK, including Llynfi Afan Renewable Energy Park, and currently have around 650MW in development and operation. In addition to developing wind farms, our primary business is the manufacturing of wind turbines for wind farms across the globe. Worldwide, we have 22 years of experience and have installed more than 35,200MW of renewable energy.

PROJECT LIAISON GROUP

Along with our newsletter and online updates, we have established a Project Liaison Group to share the LAREP updates and information with local stakeholders. This group consists of locally elected councillors of the wards which both neighbour the site and are situated along the wind turbine component delivery routes. It is designed to give your elected representatives an opportunity to:

1. Find out the latest information on construction 2. Raise any questions on your behalf 3. Help shape the Community Benefit Fund

If you have any questions or suggestions, we would love to hear them. You can get in touch in two ways: either by contacting your elected ward member who will be able to ask your question / make your suggestion at a PLG meeting, or by contacting the LAREP team on the details below. Any questions that we receive will also be raised at the next PLG meeting.

Minutes of each meeting will be made available at www.llynfiafanrep.com

CONTACT US

There are a number of ways you can get in touch with the Llynfi Afan Renewable Energy Park team who can answer any questions you may have:

0330 363 6229 [email protected] www.llynfiafanrep.com @llynfiafanREP

We look forward to hearing from you.

www.llynfiafanrep.com