Energy
Over the last few years the Trustees have constructed two hydroelectric schemes on the Estate.
One is situated on the Afon Maesgwm and the second on the Afon Croesor. Both schemes take a quantum of water from the rivers, and use it to generate electricity via a turbine. The quantum of water has been pre agreed with Natural Resources Wales, and the inlets or penstocks are set so that the agreed quantum can never be breached or cause damage to the ecosystems of the rivers. Each scheme produces enough energy to power approximately 100 houses. It is the Trustees’ ambition to configure the schemes in the future so that the energy that they produce can be consumed locally thereby benefitting the local community. Our partners in delivering these projects have been:
GH Jones, Pwllheli
Keim Water, Ludlow
Renewables First, Stroud
At Plas Brondanw there is a biomass boiler, that provides a sustainable source of heat and hot water to Plas Brondanw, 1-3 Bwthyn, Penstep, Twll Wenci, The Lodge, Orangery and Caffi Plas Brondanw. The scheme uses approximately 100 tonnes of timber per annum, all of which is sourced from the Brondanw Estate, chipped on site by a tenant of the Estate, who in turn loads it into the boiler. The boiler is an ETA Hack 200KW wood fuelled boiler, and all of the tenants using it report a general increase in living standards as a result.