Up to 550 wind turbines are set to be built across Powys in the coming years, council bosses admitted today – taking the total in the county to more than 700.

Powys County Council says 23 applications, totalling 548 turbines, have been or are about to be submitted to planning chiefs, with many set to get the go-ahead under Government guidance.

Seven windfarms, with a total of 153 turbines, have already been built at sites across the Mid Wales county, including Llandinam and Adfa, near Newtown.

John Evans, council communications manager, said: “There are three strategic windfarm search areas affecting Powys. Two, Carno North and Newtown South, are wholly in the county.

“The council has so far received or is about to receive 23 applications consisting of 548 turbines, with many set to get the go-ahead under Government guidance.”

He said there was no timescale as to when each application would be discussed and said it could take years for decisions to be made.

One of the applications which has been submitted to planners in Powys includes plans to build 65 of the biggest wind turbines ever seen on UK soil. Npower renewables wants to build the giant windfarm on 5,000 acres of hillside at Carnedd Wen near Llanbrynmair, Machynlleth.

Each turbine would stand 137m (449ft) high – the same height as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Wind energy consultant Geoffrey Sinclair said that would make them taller than any currently on mainland UK, and they would be visible from nearby Snowdonia National Park.

As part of the project Npower also plans to fund a major habitat restoration project in the area.

Glyn Davies, former Mid and West Wales AM and prospective parliamentary candidate for Montgomeryshire and a windfarm campaigner, said: “I could live with one or two windfarms – but dozens more, on top of what’s here already?

“Responsibility falls entirely on the Governments, who have ignored the development of other renewable energy sources, and failed to address the approaching energy gap.”

By Anwen Evans