Offshore foundation construction work at the Rhyl Flats site begins later this month, based out of the Port of Mostyn in Flintshire. Works installing the twenty-five 3.6 MW wind turbines will be begin in 2008.
Siemens Power Generation is to supply and install the turbines for Rhyl Flats, which is due to be fully operational by mid-2009.
The £190 million ($380 million) project, backed by £10 million ($20 million) from the government’s Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, is the company’s second major wind farm off the Welsh coastline following the development of the neighbouring North Hoyle which began generating in 2003. The Rhyl Flats scheme was purchased by npower renewables from Celtic Offshore Wind in 2002 after consent had been given for the project by the Department of Trade & Industry. It is the fourth offshore project Siemens is developing in the UK and the company will also assume responsibility for service and maintenance for an initial period of five years.
Andrew Duff, chief executive of RWE npower, commented: “Offshore wind is commercially challenging but we are making this investment in expectation that support for offshore wind, as outlined in the recent energy white paper, will be delivered.”
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