Member Article

Jones Bros completes work on Denbighshire wind farm

The first wind farm to be built from scratch in the UK by Chinese developer CGNEE is generating electricity for the first time following its completion.

Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK has finished delivering balance of plant at the 16-turbine Brenig renewables site in Denbighshire.

Commissioning work, supervised by the company’s workforce, is now taking place before the project is handed over to CGNEE’s UK asset management team with turbine performance being monitored by CGN’s headquarters in Shenzhen and Paris.

Appointed as principal contractor in mid-2017, the Ruthin-based firm has upgraded 6km of existing access roads, built crane pads and turbine bases, carried out on-site cabling works, and constructed a control building.

It also built a temporary quarry to source material for the bases on site, minimising the number of vehicular journeys required along local roads.

In addition, Jones Bros retained responsibility for safety at the site, including the delivery and erection of turbines by third party partners.

The company also carried out early preparatory works at Brenig, building access roads for other contractors to use when harvesting and exporting timber to make way for the wind farm.

The final stage of activity involved reinstatement work, which included the dismantling and removal of the site compound, as well as distributing top soil around the outer edges of all turbine bases, crane pads, and access tracks.

The scheme is one of the latest wind energy projects led by Jones Bros, with technical staff and construction operatives transferred to work on the nearby 27-turbine Clocaenog Forest Wind Farm, for which Jones Bros was appointed balance of plant contractor in early 2018.

Once fully operational, the 37.6MW Brenig site will have the capacity to power more than 25,000 UK homes.

Jones Bros site agent, Rhys Roberts, said: “We’re pleased to have reached the completion stage of this ground-breaking project for the client.

“Each turbine base required 500 cubic m3 of concrete and 48 tonnes of reinforcing steel, with 40 workers on site at the peak of construction. “We faced some challenging conditions, particularly with the weather, working throughout the year, but our team overcame all obstacles to ensure the job was finished to a high standard.

“The development has given the area’s economy a boost through workers’ pay packets being reinvested locally, and further enhances Jones Bros’ reputation as a leader in the renewable energy sector.”

Wang Zong, project manager at CGNEE, said: “We extremely appreciate our association with Jones Bros. We would like to congratulate Jones Bros for completing all the works within the time frame with quality and safety. All of the technical staff deployed by the organisation were highly experienced, efficient, and motivated in their fields of work.

“Our successful cooperation is essential to boost the local economy and regional construction industry jobs.

“We’re delighted to collaborate with Jones Bros for the future development.”

Established in the 1950s, Jones Bros is now being run by the second and third generations of the founding family and employs more than 350 people.

In addition to renewable energy, it works on projects including the construction of waste management facilities, highways, and flood and marine defence projects around the UK.

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