Nearly £70 million has been invested by Welsh pension funds into the energy company planning on building controversial wind farms in Powys.

Bute Energy has received a £68 million investment from the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP), a collaboration of the local government pension schemes in Wales, to fund their onshore windfarm projects.

The company has been at the centre of public scrutiny in Powys after announcing two major windfarm and turbine projects - the Llyn Lort Energy Park, near Cefn Coch and the Nant Mithil Energy Park, in the Radnor Forest, near Llandegley.

Councillor Ted Palmer, chair of the Wales Pension Partnership Joint Governance Committee said: “We are at a critical time for society as we attempt to address climate change and the cost-of-living crisis, while creating green, skilled jobs.

“This investment in Bute Energy projects means that our members are contributing to addressing all of these issues while also retaining the wealth from renewable energy in Wales.”

“This will deliver ethical investments and will contribute to the wellbeing of future generations in Wales – as well as meeting Welsh Government targets on local and shared ownership of renewable energy projects.”

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The move comes after a Senedd debate and vote in May last year in favour of the divestment of public sector pension schemes from fossil fuels and stronger investment into the renewables sector – leading to a commitment for Welsh pension funds to invest in projects that respond to the climate emergency.

However in Powys, Bute’s plans have been the source of controversy with local politicians and community groups opposing the proposals which they argue would not only destroy the natural beauty of the area but also possibly affect the areas ability to have the wildlife to pull carbon out of the atmosphere.

Montgomeryshire Against Pylons (MAP) who oppose the plans said: “We believe there are better means to generate clean energy without the desecration of landscapes like we have here in Montgomeryshire.

“We already export a lot more energy than we use locally. But we cannot allow our area to become saturated with giant turbines, substations, wires and steel pylons which will dwarf our landscape and destroy our precious uplands.”

Bute Energy, on the other hand, says its Energy Parks and electricity grid projects are expected “to attract up to £3 billion of direct investment into Wales” and that “once operational, the Energy Parks are expected to deliver approximately £800m of Community Benefit Funding to the communities living closest to the projects” as well as creating enough energy to “offset more than 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.

That is equivalent to seven per cent of Wales’s total greenhouse gas emissions.”

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Oliver Millican, chairman of the Bute Energy Group said: “We’re delighted to welcome this public sector investment in renewable energy in Wales.

"Public sector workers across the country are investing in projects that will generate clean, green energy that homes, businesses, schools and hospitals will need in the future. They are not only investing in their future, but also the health and wellbeing of future generations in Wales.

“At Bute Energy our ambition is to power Wales with clean green energy, and empower our communities through investment, jobs, and skills. We share WPP’s values of long term, stable and sustainable investment.

“Just like Wales was at the heart of the first industrial revolution, it has all the natural resources, skills and innovative thinking to lead the Green Revolution.

"The Welsh Government is determined that the benefit, value and wealth from this green revolution will come to and stay in Wales and this investment will help to guarantee that.”