Gareth Bryerand
Elinor Rice, Wales
Two wind farms off the west and north Wales coastline have secured UK government funding to supply the national grid, with up to 7,000 jobs expected to be created.
The Erebus wind farm, set to be built off the coast of Pembrokeshire, would become Wales’ first floating offshore wind farm, following two projects already operating in Scotland.
It is hoped the development could open up a new industry, leading to as many as 5,000 jobs in the next decade.
A second wind farm, using more traditional offshore turbines, is planned around 10km (6.2 miles) off the coast of Rhyl, Denbighshire.
The funding comes from a government scheme to encourage investment in renewable energy.
What is a floating wind farm?
While traditional offshore wind turbines are built into the seabed with fixed foundations, floating turbines sit on large floating steel structures which are then tethered to the seabed.
This allows the turbines to be manufactured and also maintained and serviced on land, then carried on ships to locations further out at sea with higher winds.
The long-term goal is to establish the Celtic Sea as a major hub for floating offshore wind energy. The Crown Estate is currently leasing three large-scale projects, with an estimated 264 turbines to be installed by the mid-2030s.
The Erebus wind farm off the Pembrokeshire coast would be able to produce 96MW – enough to power about 90,000 homes.
The plans by Blue Gem Wind – which is co-owned by the French energy giant Total – include building between seven and 10 turbines, in the Celtic Sea, about 45km (28 miles) off the coast.
Although this sounds like a small amount compared to other offshore projects, it has been described as a “pathway project” for the Celtic Sea.
As it will be the first project to use this new technology in the Celtic Sea, there is currently limited infrastructure, supply chain or workforce in Wales to produce these turbines – which can be as tall as skyscrapers and are built on land before being carried on boats to their location.
In addition, ports in the Celtic Sea are not yet prepared to handle the large-scale infrastructure required for offshore wind deployment with three Welsh ports, in particular Port Talbot, in the running for contracts to develop these projects.
Scotland is already home to two of the largest floating wind farms in the world, Hywind Scotland and the Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm.
These will soon be joined by the Pentland and Salamander projects, along with the world’s largest, the 560MW Green Volt project, which previously secured funding from the UK government.
It has been ten years since an offshore wind farm of any kind was last built in Wales, but as well as Erebus, Awel y Mor – a more traditional wind farm – has also secured funding.
Majority owned by the energy company RWE, it will build between 34 and 50 turbines, 10km (6.2 miles) off the north Wales coast, next to the existing Gwynt y Mor windfarm.
This could potentially supply enough energy to power half of Wales’ homes.
The company claims it has the potential to create 2,000 jobs during the construction phase.
Responding to the funding announcement, the Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens said: “It is a massive a vote of confidence in Wales’ clean energy industry which is already delivering the well-paid, highly-skilled jobs of the future with the potential to bring thousands more.
“The UK government is working with investors to develop home-grown clean power which will secure our energy supply and bring down bills for good. These new projects in the seas off Wales will help us achieve those goals.”
