Coed Ely Solar Farm & Private Wire Network

We believe that large infrastructure projects are an opportunity to improve communities by buying, hiring and investing locally. We worked with the council to maximise local spend and delivered over 20 hours of workshops to help local businesses engage with the project and win work. This saw £620,000 injected into the local economy by buying, hiring, and investing locally.

Additionally, 10 people from the city region were employed on the project, resulting in a further £288,000 investment in the local economy and bringing the direct financial benefits to over £900,000.

We identify the local organisations and charities which make communities so special and try to find opportunities to support them.  In addition to financial support, our staff often volunteer their time to practically contribute to these causes.

On this project we were able to commit £1,500 to support the social enterprise, Coalfield Flower Farm, which helps improve mental health through growing and cutting flowers.  We also supported Valley Kids with £1,000 towards their initiative supporting pre-school children.

The original site was a colliery spoil tip and had been unused for over 20 years.  We shared the council’s vision that the site could be improved during the construction phase.  We began by working with local ecology experts to create a comprehensive biodiversity management plan, which would increase biodiversity, enhance local habitats and support wildlife.

Key parts of this plan included planting 550m of new native hedgerows and installing 30 bat boxes, 90 bird boxes and multiple bee-posts across the site.  Eco piles and compost heaps were created from the vegetation clearance to provide shelter for invertebrates and small mammals.

Our team worked to ensure the swales and drainage for the site were optimised to support the local ecology, and that sheep continue to graze in the lower sections of the farm, further enhancing soil and grass quality.

This, alongside other land management actions, will result in a more biodiverse site, which has converted a former spoil tip into a place where insects, animals and plant life can thrive.

Work at the solar farm took place on a semi-secluded site, causing minimal disruption to the wider community. However, installing the 3.2km private wire cable and completing hospital upgrades required careful planning and strong communication.

Initially, the council led early engagement efforts, educating internal teams within the council and health board about the project’s benefits and fostering a sense of ownership. Engagement also included the Welsh Government Energy Service, and tenant farmer whose land would be affected by the cable route.

At Royal Glamorgan Hospital, the works involved temporary access restrictions and restricting vehicle parking in certain areas. We collaborated with the health board to ensure all emergency routes remained open and essential access was maintained, using bilingual communications for critical updates such as temporary car park closures.

The cable pull route followed the highway, and there was added sensitivity around the works because a recently completed project had already caused significant local disruption. We worked closely with the Highways Authority to create a traffic management plan that prioritised carrying out as much of the work offline as possible. This meant preparing and completing activities away from live traffic to limit the need for road controls.

When it was necessary to work directly on the highway, we ensured the road was opened again before the afternoon traffic rush, removing items like temporary traffic lights or lane closures.  This ensured the road was returned to normal, reducing the impact on road users at peak times.

In the busiest areas, the work was scheduled to coincide with periods of naturally lower traffic. An example of this was the work at the hospital entrance, which took place on a Sunday and was carried out under manned traffic lights operated by trained personnel. This ensured safety while minimising disruption for staff, patients and visitors.

The project was delivered in just 12 months from groundbreaking to energisation, despite poor soil and weather delays. Early mobilisation and a flexible schedule were key, with security fencing installed at the outset to protect valuable equipment and enable controlled, seasonally timed vegetation clearance.

Using local companies with a deep understanding of local terrain proved invaluable in a challenging environment and ensured steady civil engineering progress.

Modular construction and pre-approved technical submittals streamlined procurement, while trial holes and intrusive surveys ensured accurate private wire installation along its route, avoiding delays and mitigating unexpected issues.

The design of the project split the solar arrays into grid export and private wire zones, allowing parallel installation and commissioning, enabling energisation  12 months after the project began.

Success was driven by smart sequencing, local knowledge, and adapting to site constraints.

The project has a projected life expectancy of 40 years and will deliver significant benefits.

Royal Glamorgan Hospital will receive approximately 20% of its annual demand from the solar farm, with that number increasing significantly during peak summer days.  Annually, they will receive over 1,100MW hours and reduce carbon by 249 tonnes per year.

The council’s main 5MW facility will generate over 5,070 megawatt-hours of clean electricity, which can be exported to the grid.  This will save over 1,140 tonnes of carbon each year.

Over the 40-year lifecycle of the project, it will reduce carbon by over 52,000 tonnes, making it a fantastic new addition to Wales’s low-carbon infrastructure.