Wales plans to ban steel pylons as government launches consultation

Wales's government has announced plans to ban traditional steel pylons for new electricity lines under its control and launched a consultation on burying the cables underground, the Welsh government said on Friday.

The Welsh government said on Friday that prohibiting large steel lattice pylons for new lines up to 132 kilovolts was a Plaid Cymru manifesto pledge before May's Senedd election. Plaid Cymru ministers favour burying cables underground instead.

The consultation would consider a policy of burying electricity circuits, which the government said could reduce the visual impact of infrastructure, protect landscapes and local amenity. It also said burying cables could make them less vulnerable to severe weather and reduce potential impact on birds and wildlife.

But the consultation document acknowledged that undergrounding is generally considered more expensive to install and maintain and could create construction impacts during installation.

The policy would allow wooden poles or equivalent, less intrusive infrastructure to support overhead cables where certain planning tests are met.

Green Gen Cymru, the company behind plans for a network of pylons in the Towy Valley, has been asked to comment. It has previously said undergrounding cables would be significantly more expensive than running them overhead.

Green Gen has plans to build three major power line routes connecting onshore wind farms planned by its sister company Bute Energy with the wider grid network. It has previously said it would invest nearly £1bn by 2030, with proposals affecting parts of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Powys and Shropshire.

The plans have faced fierce local backlash. Groups representing hundreds of landowners took the company to court last year. In a bid to address concerns, Green Gen recently unveiled a slim and compact 22 metre pylon designed with the Welsh landscape in mind.

The company has consistently said undergrounding its cables would cost on average 4.5 times more externally than running them overhead. That would mean an extra cost of £500m for the Towy Usk project between Carmarthenshire and Powys, according to Green Gen.

Green Gen Cymru has proposed three pylon routes from mid Wales across to Shropshire, south-west Wales to Ceredigion, and one from the same point to Powys.

Welsh Energy Minister Adam Price said: We know the necessary changes in the way energy is generated and used in Wales will require new grid infrastructure, however, we also know that new infrastructure can impact on the communities and the environment that hosts it.

We want to see infrastructure that is sensitively designed to minimise impacts on the environment and the communities that host them, while offering the maximum benefits for Wales.

The Welsh Conservatives welcomed the policy consultation. The party environment spokesperson, Andrew RT Davies said: We recognise that Wales needs a modern electricity network to support economic growth, but communities should not have to accept eyesores across our beautiful natural landscapes, which must be conserved.

The consultation will run until 15 January 2027.

Source: BBC Science.