Welsh Windfarm in Liverpool Bay Given Start Date

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The largest planned windfarm in Wales is taking shape following the creation of a joint venture to build the 576-megawatt (MW) Gwynt y Mor offshore windfarm.

RWE Innogy (Essen, Germany), the renewables arm of German energy giant RWE AG (OTC:RWEOY) (Essen), Stadtwerke Munchen (Munchen, Germany) and Siemens Energy (Erlangen, Germany), which is part of electrical and electronic equipment major Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany), have agreed to build the massive windfarm in Liverpool Bay, which is about 8 kilometres off north Wales. The project is expected to cost more than 2 billion euros (US$2.4 billion), including the grid connection to the coast. RWE will control 60% of the joint venture, with Stadtwerke and Siemens controlling 30% and 10%, respectively.

Work on the project will begin toward the end of 2011 with the construction of the first foundations for 160 wind turbines, with capacities of 3.6-MW each. Full planning permission for the windfarm, which covers an area of 79 square kilometers, has been obtained, and Siemens will supply, install and maintain the wind turbines, as well as provide the connection to the grid.

In the first phase of expansion, the windfarm will begin generating electricity as early as 2013, with the project fully completed by 2014. At full power, it will generate about 1,950 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to supply about 400,000 homes. The Liverpool Bay is considered ideal, with relatively shallow waters and very high wind speeds.

"This is the first of what I hope will be many examples of how we can make the most of our island's huge renewable energy potential," said Chris Huhne, the U.K.'s new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. "I want to make sure we grab all the opportunities the rapidly expanding renewables industry has to offer, and that wind power can come of age under this government."

Fritz Vahrenholt, the chief executive officer of RWE Innogy, added: "In 2008, we started making RWE greener. With an output of almost 580 MW and an annual saving in CO2 production of around 1.7 million tonnes, Gwynt y Môr will contribute significantly to this. This is the fifth offshore windfarm which RWE is not only developing but also building--a balance to be proud of."

At the end of last year, RWE npower Renewables (Swindon, England), commissioned the largest offshore windfarm in Wales with the opening of the 90-MW Rhyl Flats windfarm, five miles off the northern coast. Rhyl Flats uses 25 turbines, of 3.6 MW each, from Siemens, which are installed in an area of four square miles. It can generate enough power for more than 61,000 homes. For related news, see December 4, 2009, article -- Offshore Windfarm Blows into Wales.

IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the wind energy, geothermal, hydroelectric, landfill gas-to-energy and utility-scale solar power plants throughout North America, and is now expanding coverage across the world.

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