Aberafan Maesteg
Aberafan Maesteg was paid £470k last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for 6.4 days. A further 37 MW of approved clean power (almost all onshore wind) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 32,000 homes. A 100 MW battery approved at Rhydypandy Road, Morriston in 2025 would store power that is currently wasted; it has not been built.
The waiting list
Every approved, unbuilt project
| Site | Technology | Enough for | Capacity | Approved | Waiting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foel Trawsnant | Wind Onshore | 31,000 homes | 35.0 MW | 2021-11 | 4.7 yrs |
| Kenfig Industrial Estate, Margam - Wind turbine | Wind Onshore | 1,300 homes | 1.5 MW | 2022-09 | 3.8 yrs |
| Margam - Solar panels | Solar Photovoltaics | 100 homes | 0.4 MW | 2022-07 | 4.0 yrs |
| Dyfed Reinforcements, Riverside Road - Solar Panels | Solar Photovoltaics | 100 homes | 0.4 MW | 2022-09 | 3.8 yrs |
Plus 2 more approved within the last two years.
Batteries
| Site | Size | Status | While discharging |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhydypandy Road, Morriston - Battery Energy Storage System | 100 MW | approved, not built 2025 | could supply ≈350,000 homes |
| Chosen Park, Baglan Energy Park - Unit 3 - Battery Storage System | 30 MW | approved, not built 2025 | could supply ≈105,000 homes |
| Pen y Cymoedd Energy Storage | 22 MW | could supply ≈77,000 homes |
Wind farms paid to switch off
| Site | Paid, 12 months | Energy lost | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pen Y Cymoedd | £470k | a year of 1,900 homes' electricity | high |
What this page does not show
The switch-off figure covers the big wind farms on the national grid only; smaller farms on the local grid are switched off invisibly, so it is a floor. Offshore wind is counted nationally, never per seat. The planning database can run a quarter behind reality.
Electricity does not travel from a particular project to particular houses. Everything generated goes into the national grid and everyone draws from that shared pool, so "enough for X homes" is a way of sizing the electricity — not a claim that these homes would be powered by this site. Battery storage is counted separately from generation: it moves power in time rather than making it.
Planning statuses come from the government's planning database (REPD), which records what was decided and when, but not why. Where a project was refused we say so and name the authority; for the reasons, look up the planning reference on that council's own register. How to check any figure on this page →
What has Stephen Kinnock said about the grid in Parliament? Search Hansard →