Giant Offshore Windfarm Planned for Irish Sea

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- A giant offshore windfarm with up to 440 turbines is being proposed for the Irish Sea.

Danish energy giant Dong Energy A/S (Fredericia, Denmark) and British gas and electricity company, Centrica plc (OTC:CPYYY) (Windsor, England), have put forward plans for the Rhiannon Wind Farm which will be located 14 kilometres (km) from Anglesey and 34 km from the Isle of Man. It is the first offshore windfarm being proposed for the Irish Sea Zone which has the potential to locate up to 4,200-megawatts (MW) of offshore capacity. The windfarm, which will be developed by their joint venture company, Celtic Array, will feature between 147 and 440 offshore wind turbines and has the potential to generate up to 2,200 MW of electricity. Rhiannon is the first phase of what is known as the Celtic Array offshore project. The second phase will have a similar capacity, if it goes ahead.

The proposals have been lodged with the U.K. government's National Infrastructure Planning (NIP) authority.

Both companies recently received the green light for separate windfarm projects that will add more than 1,100 MW to the U.K.'s growing renewable energy portfolio. The two wind farms, located off England's east coast, are Race Bank (580 MW) and Dudgeon (560 MW) in the Greater Wash. They will be capable of generating enough power for around 730,000 homes and will cost more than €3.8 billion ($4.7 billion) to build. For additional information see July 10, 2012, article - U.K. Green Lights 1,100 MW of Offshore Wind.

In its scoping report on the Celtic Array project, Centrica said: "Celtic Array intends to submit an application for the offshore infrastructure, such as the wind turbines, offshore substation and marine cables, to the Planning Inspectorate. The application is expected to be made by the end of 2013 with the aim of starting offshore construction in 2017. The location of the onshore infrastructure, such as the substation and onshore cable routes, is yet to be determined. Celtic Array is in discussion with National Grid about potential connection points to the existing UK electricity transmission network on the UK mainland. The connection is anticipated to be on Anglesey."

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