Welsh offshore wind farm hits milestone
A marine license has been secured for Awel y Môr, a renewable energy generation station capable of powering 500,000 homes.
German-based company RWE is leading the development of the wind farm, which would sit on a 78-square-kilometre stretch of seabed located 10.5 kilometres off the coast of Llandudno. The site in question is just west of the existing Gwynt y Môr windfarm, which was also developed by RWE.
Natural Resources Wales’ granting of the marine license will enable RWE and its partners Stadtwerke München and Siemens Financial Services to install sub-sea cables to connect the future wind farm to an onshore substation and to the neighbouring Gwynt y Môr wind farm.
The marine license news follows the Planning Inspectorate granting a development order for the scheme in September.
Combined, these two bureaucratic wins mean that plans for the construction of Awel y Môr can be finalised. This keeps the project on track to be operational by 2030.
Awel y Môr is cleared for up to 50 offshore wind turbine generators of up to 332 metres in height. They will be capable of generating more than 350 MW of energy.
This energy will be fed from the onshore substation near Ffrith Beach to the National Grid substation at Bodelwyddan.
In addition to Awel y Môr, RWE is working on onshore wind farms at Gaerwen and Alwen in North Wales. Regarding its offshore wind farm projects in the UK, the company is developing two Dogger Bank South offshore wind farms.
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What a wast of time and money – this focus on very unreliable wind energy is costly and putting our energy security at risk- the use of clean natural gas and nuclear can do everything wind can do but without the negative side affects-
By Stuart wood
Stuart, ‘clean natural gas’ isn’t a thing. Wind, however, is clean. The carbon emissions during construction are offset after a couple of years of operation. With advances in battery storage tech and improvements to be made to the grid, renewables such as this are the only viable option for energy. To think otherwise is dangerous.
By Anonymous
Come on Stuart,
The risks of wind – some biddies getting disgruntled that their view has changed.
Risks of nuclear – totally armageddon for anybody in a 200 mile radius.
and what is this magical clean natural gas you speak of? It might be cleanER than coal but it definitely isn’t clean.
By Anonymous
How times change. I now look forward to windy days.
By Reece marfitt