Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been made on determining applications under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 2003 for major wind farms in Mid Wales since 4 October 2016; and if he will make a statement.

The Department is currently determining two applications for consent under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for onshore wind farms in mid-Wales – the proposed Carnedd Wen and Llanbrynmair wind farms in Powys. Following the quashing of the previous decisions on those applications in December 2015, my Department has carried out further consultation with developers and other interested parties which ended on 4 October 2016. Since then, the responses to that consultation have been carefully assessed and it is anticipated decisions on both applications will be made shortly.