Member Article

Turbine bases completed at major wind farm project in North Wales

Concrete pours to construct 27 turbines at a wind farm in North Wales have been completed.

The milestone at Clocaenog Forest Wind Farm was reached by contractor Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK.

Jones Bros will now concentrate on cabling works and preparing the turbine areas for deliveries of turbine components, which are due to start in the new year.

The civil engineering firm used on-site batching plants to mix concrete on location, reducing vehicle journeys to and from the wind farm. It also played a key role in keeping to schedule despite heavy snowfall earlier in the year delaying operations.

Each turbine base required an average of 640m3 of concrete and 90 tonnes of reinforcement steel.

The wind farm is located just 10 miles from Jones Bros’ head office and training centre in Ruthin, Denbighshire.

The family-owned company was appointed by renewable energy developer innogy Renewables UK to work on the project, which is situated within the working forest managed by Natural Resources Wales.

Jones Bros site agent Rhys Roberts said: “I’m very proud of the team for its work during the last eight months to deliver these turbine bases to a high standard.

“Having our own batching plants has been hugely beneficial to not just ourselves but to local residents, who have experienced less traffic on the roads than they would have if we transported it in.

“For us, we were able to produce material at a rate to suit operations, and we could also monitor production for consistency and quality which helped to avoid unnecessary delays.”

In addition to the completion of the turbine bases, Jones Bros has also built 8km of new access tracks, upgraded 20km of existing tracks, and installed crane pads.

The family firm has also provided opportunities for apprentices and worked closely with the local community, which will receive a community investment fund from innogy worth up to £768,000 per annum, throughout the lifetime of the project once the wind farm is operational.

Rhys added: “We have had approximately 70 Jones Bros staff on site, including 15 apprentices and trainees, who have gained valuable experience working on a large wind farm project.

“We have welcomed three schools on visits, as well as provided Denbigh Rotary Club with a tour of the development. I have also carried out a presentation at Ysgol Twm o’r Nant explaining the work that goes into a project of this scale.”

The wind farm will have the capacity to generate enough electricity to meet the needs of up to 63,800 average UK homes per year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Harris .