Civils Firm Wins £46.5m Welsh Wind Farm Contract

Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK has secured a £46.5 million contract to deliver infrastructure for the £100 million Carno III Wind Farm in Powys.

Carno 3 LLP, a joint venture between Amegni Renewables and Gresham House, appointed the Ruthin-based contractor as principal contractor for the 10-turbine project. The wind farm will have an installed capacity of 45MW.

Jones Bros will construct turbine foundations, an onsite substation and control building. The work will also include cabling and access improvements.

The contractor will install 20km of underground cable between the Welshpool electricity substation and a connection point south of Abermule.

The grid reinforcement works will strengthen part of SP Energy Networks’ 132kV network in mid Wales.

Jones Bros will upgrade more than 4.4km of existing access tracks and construct a further 4.7km of new tracks. The company will also improve existing highways to support turbine and construction deliveries.

Work has already started on site, with completion scheduled for autumn 2027.

Jones Bros senior contract manager Rhys Roberts said the project was the company’s highest-value wind farm contract in Wales.

The contractor previously worked as principal contractor on Carno II for Amegni in 2009.

Up to 90 people are expected to work on Carno III, including apprentices. Jones Bros also plans to use local suppliers where possible.

Amegni Renewables director Sion Thomas said more than £50 million of contracts linked to the project had been awarded to Welsh businesses and individuals.

The developer said the wind farm will generate enough electricity each year to supply the equivalent of around 46,000 homes.

The project is also expected to save around 65,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Once Carno III becomes operational, the three locally operated Carno wind farms will have a combined total of 78 turbines and almost 100MW of installed capacity.

Amegni said the three projects will provide £250,000 a year in community benefit payments.

The last wind farm to become fully operational in mid Wales was Garreg Lwyd, which began generating electricity in spring 2017.