THE company behind plans for pylons across the Towy Valley has thanked the local communities for getting involved in an early consultation.

More than 2,500 people took part in the initial consultation for Green GEN Cymru’s Towy Usk renewable energy network.

It plans to connect Bute Energy’s Nant Mithil Energy Park and a number of other energy parks in early assessment stages to the National Grid near Carmarthen.

The Nant Mithil park is set to provide green energy to those connected to it.

The consultation ran from March 6 to April 28 and included five in-person consultation events run by the branch of Bute Energy and three online webinars.

During the consultation events, there were discussions on the preferred route and design of the project.

The plans have come under fire from some politicians and local residents' groups over concerns the pylons would blight the scenery, with some calling for lines to be put underground instead.

Green GEN Cymru will take all feedback into account, as well as assessments from environmental and technical surveys, with a second round of public consultation expected to begin in early 2024.

Gareth Williams, Bute Energy’s grid director, said: “It has been good to speak to local people about our plans – and there’s broad agreement that renewable energy has an important role to play in responding to the climate emergency.

"There is endless potential for renewable energy in Wales – particularly from the wind that blows across our hills and mountains.

“But we know that people have differing views on new infrastructure, and we are focused on causing the least disturbance to the environment and those who live, work and enjoy recreation close to our proposals.

“We heard local people tell us that they had concerns about the visual impact of our plans, asking us to consider undergrounding parts of the route, and wanting to understand more about the potential impact on the communities the route passes through.

"Over the next few months we will be reviewing feedback from local people, along with reports from environmental and technical surveys, and use it to evolve the design and routing of the project, responding to the issues that have been raised.

"We anticipate that our next round of consultation will be in early 2024, ahead of submitting an application for a Development of National Significance to the Welsh Government in 2025.

“We really appreciate local people taking the time to come and have their say on our initial proposals to connect clean, green energy to the National Grid.”