The UK Planning Inspectorate has accepted for consideration proposals for the development of the Awel y Môr offshore wind farm, RWE Renewables said.
Awel y Môr offshore wind farm includes up to 50 turbines with a maximum tip height of 332 metres and is a sister project to the existing Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm.
If approved, the Awel y Môr offshore wind farm could be built approximately 10.5 kilometres off the coast of north Wales, to the west of the existing Gwynt y Môr wind farm, with its grid connection planned to reach the shoreline between Rhyl and Prestatyn.
The project, which is being developed by RWE Renewables on behalf of the project’s partners, now moves into the ‘pre-examination’ phase of the consenting process before a public examination, expected to begin in September 2022.
The final decision on consent will rest with the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with a decision anticipated in 2023. As the project lies in Welsh waters, a Marine License is also required from Welsh Government through Natural Resources Wales.
”This is a significant milestone for the development of this nationally significant project, which will help meet the targets in the recently published UK energy security strategy. The application is made up of hundreds of pages of detailed reports and is the culmination of a great deal of hard work by the project team,” Tamsyn Rowe , Project Manager for Awel y Môr, said.
”If approved, this project will also continue RWE’s long-term role as the largest provider of renewable energy in Wales. This includes projects like Gwynt y Môr and Clocaenog, and the apprenticeship scheme at Coleg Llandrillo, which will develop Wales’ skills and capabilities in the sector for many years to come.”
Awel y Môr is one of the seven extension projects to be awarded a seabed lease agreement by The Crown Estate.
RWE is developing Awel y Môr with project partners Stadtwerke München (30 per cent), and Siemens Financial Services (10 per cent).