The Awel y Môr offshore windfarm has passed a key milestone after proposals were submitted to, and accepted for consideration, by the UK Planning Inspectorate
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 project includes up to 50 turbines with a maximum tip height of 332 m. It is a sister project to RWE’s Gwynt y Môr project.
If approved, Awel y Môr would be built approximately 10.5 km off the coast of north Wales, to the west of Gwynt y Môr, with its grid connection planned to reach the shoreline between Rhyl and Prestatyn.
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 Licence is also required from Welsh Government through Natural Resources Wales.
Awel y Môr project manager Tamsyn Rowe said, “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.”
RWE is developing Awel y Môr with project partners Stadtwerke München (30%) and Siemens Financial Services (10%).
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