Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm is a 25 turbine
wind farm
A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...
approximately 8 km north east of
Llandudno in
North Wales
North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
. It is
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 ...
' second offshore wind farm and the third offshore wind farm to be built within
Liverpool Bay
Liverpool Bay is a bay of the Irish Sea between northeast Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside to the east of the Irish Sea. The bay is a classic example of a region of freshwater influence. Liverpool Bay has historically suffered from redu ...
. It has a maximum rated output of 90
MW.
Construction
The Rhyl Flats project was initially developed by Celtic Offshore Wind Limited (COWL) as part of the UK's Round 1 offshore wind farm programme. COWL received consent for the project in 2002, and in December 2002 the project was purchased by
Npower Renewables (formerly National Wind Power and now a part of
Innogy
Innogy SE was an energy company based in Essen, Germany. It is now merged and integrated into German energy company E.ON.
History
The company was created on 1 April 2016, by splitting the renewable, network and retail businesses of RWE into ...
, a subsidiary of the German firm
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 ...
), who were also developing the neighbouring
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
Gwynt y Môr
Gwynt y Môr (Welsh: meaning ''sea wind'') is a 576-megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm located off the coast of Wales and is the fifth largest operating offshore windfarm in the world. The farm has 160 wind turbines of tip height above mean sea lev ...
offshore wind farms. Offshore construction work at Rhyl Flats began in July 2007. Foundation works was completed in August 2008. The completed project was officially opened on 2 December 2009.
North Hoyle was completed in 2003, just a few kilometres east of Rhyl Flats. The Round 1 projects were intended to act as testbeds; building the UK's understanding of offshore wind, whilst in total also providing well over 1000 MW of green generating capacity for the UK. All of the Round 1 offshore wind farms were limited to a maximum area of , and no more than 30 wind turbines.
The project uses three export cables.
Output
The first electricity was supplied by the site on 15 July 2009. The project consists of 25
Siemens Wind Power
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...
SWT-107-3.6
wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...
s, each rated at 3.6 MW capacity. This gives the project a maximum output of 90 MW; a third greater than the neighbouring
North Hoyle Offshore Wind Farm, but with five fewer wind turbines and spread over a smaller area. At the time of installation, Rhyl Flats is expected to generate enough
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...
to power 60,000 homes on average.
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 £126/MWh.
See also
*
Wind power in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is the best location for wind power in Europe and one of the best in the world. By 2022, the UK had over 11 thousand wind turbines with a total installed capacity of over 25gigawatts (GW): 14 GW onshore and 11 GW offshore, t ...
*
List of offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom StrikeOpt
This is a list of offshore wind farms within the national maritime boundaries of the United Kingdom. The name of the wind farm is the name used by the energy company when referring to the farm; it is usually related to the name of the ...
*
List of offshore wind farms
This article lists the largest offshore wind farms that are currently operational rated by nameplate capacity. It also lists the largest offshore wind farms currently under construction, the largest proposed offshore wind farms, and offshore w ...
*
List of offshore wind farms in the Irish Sea
References
External links
Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farmat npower Renewables
at The Crown Estate
LORC Knowledge - Datasheet for Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm
{{RWE
Offshore wind farms in the Irish Sea
Wind farms in Wales
Buildings and structures in Conwy County Borough
RWE
Round 1 offshore wind farms
2009 establishments in Wales
Energy infrastructure completed in 2009