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A decision on whether to build a new wind farm on land between Senghenydd, Nelson and Cilfynydd, has been held up because of discussions over whether or not the land for the development could be classed as peat.

An application for up to 14 wind turbines has been submitted and has been deemed a ‘Development of National Significance’, meaning Welsh Government ministers will have the final say on permission, rather than the council.

Each turbine could have a maximum blade tip height of 200 metres, and the wind farm could provide 92.4MW of electricity – enough energy to power the equivalent of 81,000 homes a year.

Representatives from Bute Energy, the company behind Twyn Hywel Energy Park, told a recent meeting of the Aber Valley Partnership Board that a Welsh Government decision was expected by September 27.

The Welsh Government has since said an announcement could be as late as November 22 as it works out if the project conforms to its peat conservation policies.

In a consultation document submitted to the Welsh Government agency Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW), James Cooke said building the turbines would damage the soil they’d be built on.

Mr Cooke, who leads the Peatland, Soil, and Agricultural Land Use planning team within the Environmental Sustainability Directorate of the Welsh Government, wrote: “When operations cease, land needs to be reclaimed to a high standard and to a beneficial and sustainable after-use so as to avoid dereliction and to bring discernible benefits to communities and/or wildlife.

“The proposal lacks the necessary detail to reasonably assess and provide confidence that a high standard of reclamation and beneficial and sustainable after use can be achieved.”

Bute Energy’s agents Savills has told PEDW it disputes Mr Cooke’s “identification of the site as a peatland site”.

It said: “Turbines in the initial scheme layout which were found to be sited on areas where deeper peat is present were removed from the design, as was a borrow pit search area where a potential was identified for deeper peat to be present … It can be seen that all turbine locations, all turbine hardstandings except one, and the large majority of other infrastructure elements are located in areas where peat depths less than 0.3m have been recorded, ie where soils comprise mineral or organic/peaty soils, but not functional peat … [The] average depth of peat/soil at almost all proposed infrastructure elements is less than 0.3m, ie the soils are not defined as peat.”

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said its “commitment to both the development of renewable energy and our natural environment is unwavering”.

The spokesperson continued: “The First Minister has placed green jobs and growth at the very top of the agenda for delivery, and has put energy, economy and planning together under the same department in order to help ensure that, where projects come forward which align with our ambitions, then they are considered as a matter of urgency.

“There are clearly challenges in the planning system that need to be overcome, but it’s important also that large infrastructure projects of any nature are considered hand in hand with our natural landscapes and local communities.”