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Plans for a new wind farm along the border between Caerphilly County Borough and Blaenau Gwent have moved a step closer.

The planning application for nine turbines at Mynydd Bedwellte is currently in the process of being validated by Welsh Government planning inspectors, Blaenau Gwent councillors were told on Thursday April 23.

Spanish firm EDP Renewables is behind the development, where the turbines would have a maximum height of 180 metres.

The site, which is west of Tredegar and east of Rhymney, straddles the county boundaries of Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly councils.

This scheme is classed as a Development of National Significance (DNS) and will be processed by Welsh Government planning inspectors at PEDW (Planning and Environment Decisions Wales).

This means that Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent councils will be consultees rather than decision makers, and eventually the inspector will produce a report that will recommend how a Welsh Government minister should decide the application.

Development team manager Helen Hinton, of Blaenau Gwent Council, said: “As (councillors) would be aware, the last DNS that we are waiting on is Mynydd Bedwellte.

“That scheme has gone out to consultation, and they have subsequently submitted their documentation to PEDW.

“We received notification from PEDW that the application is now in the validation process.

“What we have done is notify the constituent ward members that this application is pending, so it’s the very early days.”

She added that she would let councillors know when the application has been validated and officially gone live.

EDP said it held a pre-application consultation between June 30 and August 11 last year, which would help refine its plans ahead of lodging them with PEDW this year.

EDP Renewables said: “We want to develop clean energy for Wales and help it achieve its mission to reach net zero, whilst creating a positive legacy in its communities.”

The company claims that it would generate 54.9 MW of electricity, which is enough to power 35,500 homes.