Wales plans to ban steel pylons as government launches consultation

The Welsh government has announced plans to ban the use of traditional steel pylons to support electricity lines over which it has control.

Plaid Cymru ministers favour burying cables underground instead.

Plans for a network of pylons in the Towy Valley have faced a fierce local backlash with local Plaid politicians speaking out against the proposals.

The company behind the plans, Green Gen Cymru, said it welcomed the consultation and that it supported using "the right infrastructure in the right place".

Prohibiting the use of large steel lattice pylons for new lines up to 132 kilovolts was a Plaid Cymru manifesto pledge before May's Senedd election.

Launching a consultation on its policy on Friday, the Welsh government said undergrounding electricity circuits could "reduce the visual impact of electricity infrastructure, helping to protect landscapes and local amenity".

It also said that burying cables could make them less vulnerable to severe weather and could reduce the potential impact on birds and other wildlife.

However, the consultation document also acknowledges that undergrounding was "generally considered more expensive to install and maintain and could create construction impacts during installation".

The government's policy would allow for wooden poles or "equivalent, less intrusive infrastructure" to be used to support overhead cables where undergrounding isn't feasible.

Green Gen has plans to build three major power line routes connecting onshore wind farms planned by its sister company Bute Energy with the wider grid network.

It has previously said it would invest nearly £1bn by 2030, with proposals affecting parts of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Powys and Shropshire.

But it has faced considerable opposition in certain communities, with groups representing hundreds of landowners taking the company to court in 2025.

In a bid to address concerns, Green Gen recently unveiled a "slim and compact" 22 metre (72ft) pylon, designed "with the Welsh landscape in mind".

The company has consistently said that undergrounding its cables would cost on average 4.5 times more than running them overhead.

That would mean an extra cost of £500m for the Towy Usk project between Carmarthenshire and Powys, according to Green Gen.

Welsh Energy Minister Adam Price said: "We know the necessary changes in the way energy is generated and used in Wales will require new grid infrastructure, however, we also know that new infrastructure can impact on the communities and the environment that hosts it.

"We want to see infrastructure that is sensitively designed to minimise impacts on the environment and the communities that host them, while offering the maximum benefits for Wales."

Andrew Hardcastle, executive director at Green Gen Cymru, said: "We welcome the Welsh government's consultation and its recognition of the importance of delivering the electricity infrastructure Wales needs in a way that is sensitive to our landscapes, environment and communities.

"Like all grid companies across the UK, we believe there is no one-size-fits-all solution to developing new electricity networks.

"Our approach is to use the right infrastructure in the right place, drawing on a range of technologies including underground cables, wooden poles and our recently announced lower-profile monopoles."

The company said it was "pleased that the consultation recognises the potential role of less visually intrusive overhead infrastructure, including monopoles, and invites evidence on their use".

Reform's Senedd spokesperson for rural affairs, Laura Anne Jones, said: "As part of our energy policy, we will continue to push for new power lines to be placed underground wherever possible, protecting our landscapes and rural communities.

"Reform will always stand up for our countryside and fight against its industrialisation."

The Welsh Conservatives welcomed the policy consultation.

The party's environment spokesperson, Andrew RT Davies said: "We recognise that Wales needs a modern electricity network to support economic growth, but communities should not have to accept eyesores across our beautiful natural landscapes, which must be conserved."

The consultation will run until 15 January 2027.

Eirian Edwards, a campaigner in the Llandovery Pylon Group, said: "We welcome that they are seriously looking at undergrounding as the preferred option - to protect landscapes and people's livelihoods.

"If infrastructure has to be planned, then we're not against that process at all. We realise that we need to strengthen our local grid, but certain projects that are planned do not fulfil that at all."

Dyfan Walters, a farmer in Llandovery who is also a member of Llandovery Pylon Group, called it "a positive day for us".

"We're fully supportive and understand that the infrastructure is required.

"Putting that underground means that there's less impact on agriculture, less impact on tourism.

"In a world where there's an ever-changing climate, having that resilience - having infrastructure placed underground - is a sensible way forward."