Gwynt y Môr (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

: meaning ''sea wind'') is a 576-

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

(MW)

offshore wind farm Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of c ...

located off the coast of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and is the fifth largest operating offshore windfarm in the world. The farm has 160 wind turbines of tip height above mean sea level. Planning consent for the project was granted on 3 December 2008. The project has a value of 2 billion Euros, of which 1.2 billion Euros were spent on turbines and electrical connections. Construction began in 2012, power production started in September 2013, construction phase ended in November 2014, and final commissioning occurred in June 2015. In May 2020 plans to add up to 107 new turbines were submitted to Flintshire Council, increasing the windfarm by an extra 41 square miles, with a generating capacity of at least 100 megawatts.

Design and planning

As with all offshore wind farms in the UK the

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priv ...

owns the seabed at Gwynt y Môr. It has agreed to lease the land to RWE npower renewables. The wind farm is located close to the existing

North Hoyle North Hoyle Offshore Wind Farm is Wales' first offshore wind farm, and the UK's first major offshore renewable power project. Situated in Liverpool Bay, it commenced operation in 2003. The first of the UK's Round 1 offshore wind farms, North Ho ...

and

Rhyl Flats Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm is a 25 turbine wind farm approximately 8 km north east of Llandudno in North Wales. It is Wales' second offshore wind farm and the third offshore wind farm to be built within Liverpool Bay. It has a maximum ra ...

offshore wind farms. These projects are wholly or partly owned by

RWE npower Npower Limited is a British supplier of gas and electricity to businesses. It has been a subsidiary of E.ON UK since January 2019. The company was formerly known as Innogy plc and was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent ...

renewables, a subsidiary of German company

RWE RWE AG is a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen. It generates and trades electricity in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States. The company is Europe's most climate threatening Company, the world's number two in offsh ...

. In the case of Gwynt y Môr, RWE holds 50%, Stadtwerke München holds 30%, Siemens holds 10% and

UK Green Investment Bank Green Investment Group Limited (GIG) is a specialist in green infrastructure principal investment, project delivery and the management of portfolio assets, and related services. The business was launched initially by the UK government in 2012 a ...

holds 10%. With 160 turbinesRWE Innogy, Stadtwerke München and Siemens build offshore wind farm Gwynt y Môr
/ref> of 3.6MW Siemens SWT-3.6-107, Gwynt y Môr will be Wales' largest wind farm. The output of 1,950 GWh per year is capable of powering around 400,000 homes, or 30% of the homes in Wales. This prevents the release of about 1.7 million tonnes of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

every year. Planning consent for the project was granted on 3 December 2008. The project has a value of 2 billion Euros. 1.2 billion Euros will go to Siemens for turbines and electrical connections. Two floating experimental LIDAR wind measurement stations have been tested at the site for two years.

Construction

Construction work began offshore in January 2011 when pieces of rock were laid on softer parts of the seabed to secure the foundations of the turbines. Work began on laying undersea cables from the windfarm to the shore in August 2012. The project uses four 132 kV subsea cables manufactured by

NKT The New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT—IKBU) is a global Buddhist new religious movement founded by Kelsang Gyatso in England in 1991. In 2003 the words "International Kadampa Buddhist Union" (IKBU) were ad ...

. In order to feed electricity into the national grid, a substation was built near

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a city and community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355, making it the second-smallest city in Britain in terms of population and urban ...

in Denbighshire. Power production started in September 2013. Final commissioning was completed on 18 June 2015.windpoweroffshore.com, David Weston
UK: RWE has completed the construction phase of the 576MW Gwynt y Mor project ahead of final commissioning next year
, 24 November 2014 Its

levelised cost The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), or levelized cost of energy, is a measure of the average net present cost of electricity generation for a generator over its lifetime. It is used for investment planning and to compare different methods ...

has been estimated at £179/MWh.

Design and planning

Construction

See also