Peat, Power & False Promises

Why Wind Farms don’t belong on Bogs

Written by Annie Zak from Not a Nimby Blog 

Peatlands are among the UK’s most valuable natural assets. They lock away vast amounts of carbon, regulate water, and provide habitat for rare wildlife. Yet, despite their importance, developers are still targeting them for industrial-scale wind farms. The Bryn Cadwgan Energy Park proposal in Carmarthenshire is a striking example.

What the Science Says

The University of Aberdeen1 cautions that peatlands should be off-limits for wind farm development. These areas store carbon for thousands of years, but once disturbed, they release greenhouse gases. Damaged peat can take centuries to recover, undermining the very climate goals wind farms aim to achieve. In simple terms, a wind farm on peat may negate its own carbon savings.

What the Developers Say

Galileo’s Outline Peat Management Plan (OPMP) for Bryn Cadwgan admits that peat is a key constraint on the site. Surveys found depths up to 3.4 metres, with extensive bogs across turbine and track locations. The plan talks about a “stepwise approach” — avoid, minimise, restore — but even after design tweaks, large volumes of peat would still be excavated and disturbed.

The OPMP proposes measures such as:

• Moving some turbines and tracks to shallower areas.
• Using “floating roads” to reduce excavation.
• Re-using excavated peat for restoration.
• Monitoring and aftercare to check recovery.

But all of this starts from the assumption that building on peat is acceptable, as long as you try to manage the damage.

The Policy Gap

Welsh planning policy is clear: peatlands are “irreplaceable.” Development on them is “as a matter of principle unacceptable” and only “wholly exceptional” cases should proceed. Yet here we are again — with a project featuring 19 turbines, solar panels, battery storage, and kilometres of tracks, all within peatland areas.

This contradiction is stark: science says don’t build on peat, policy says don’t build on peat, but the developer’s plan details how they will build on peat.

Why It Matters

The Bryn Cadwgan OPMP is presented as responsible management, but it cannot escape the truth highlighted by scientists: once you dig up and drain peat, the damage is done. Restoration efforts are uncertain, slow, and often ineffective. Meanwhile, carbon is released, habitats are destroyed, and landscapes are scarred.

If Wales is serious about addressing climate change, peatlands should be protected rather than industrialised. The message is clear — wind farms should be located on sites without peat, where renewable energy development does not come at the cost of irreplaceable natural capital.

Conclusion

Aberdeen University’s research cuts through the greenwash: wind farms on peat are self-defeating. The Bryn Cadwgan plan shows how developers try to square the circle, but the result is clear. Once peat is gone, it’s gone — and no amount of paperwork can put it back.