npower renewables1, the developer and operator of the UK's first major offshore wind farm, North Hoyle, located off the coast between Prestatyn and Rhyl in North Wales, today announced that it has signed a major contract with Siemens plc2 to supply and install the wind turbines3 for npower renewables' Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm4, located west of North Hoyle, between Abergele and Rhos-on-Sea.
The Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm will consist of 25 wind turbines, compared to the 30 at North Hoyle, however with an installed electrical capacity of 90 megawatts (MW), Rhyl Flats is expected to generate some 50% more clean electricity every year than North Hoyle, enough to supply some 61,000 homes.
Kevin McCullough, managing director of npower renewables, said, "As a company we are committed to delivering clean, renewable power projects in Wales and throughout the rest of the UK, whilst also ensuring that local communities are informed and involved with our activities. The Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm will make a significant contribution towards the Welsh Assembly Government target to produce 4 terrawatt hours (TWh)5 per year from renewable energy sources within Wales by 2010, a figure which mirrors the UK national target of 10% of electrical power from renewables by the same year."
Malcolm Wicks MP, Minister for Energy at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, said: "Offshore wind farms can make a real contribution to the UK's renewable electricity targets and we want to see more of them. We backed Rhyl Flats with a £10 million capital grant and we set out measures in the recent Energy White Paper that will provide even more support to developers through the Renewables Obligation."
Over 150 jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase between 2007 and 2009, and around a further 12 jobs being created to operate and maintain the wind farm once it is up and running.
Offshore foundation construction at the Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm site starts this month with installation of the scour protection, based out of the Port of Mostyn in Flintshire. The work, which will take 1-2 months to complete, involves the laying of rocks on the seabed at the turbine locations on the wind farm site. The rocks, which have been sourced from the Penrhyn Slate Quarry near Bangor, Gwynedd, will prevent localised erosion of the seabed around the turbine foundations.
Installation of the foundation piles themselves will commence in April 2008, marking the start of the main offshore works period. The first turbines are expected to start generating in November 2008, with project completion anticipated in July 2009.
Kevin McCullough commented, "We will ensure that as construction of the wind farm progresses we keep local people informed of the activities that are taking place and what is involved. We recognise that some people may have concerns and that others are simply interested in what is happening at various stages of the works, as such we are keen to ensure that the relevant information is made available at the appropriate times and that people have the opportunity to contact us should they wish to do so."
Anyone with comments or queries about the Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm project can email
rhylflats@npower-renewables.com
or telephone Judith Roberts on 0151 648 0896.
The Rhyl Flats project was originally developed and consented by Celtic Offshore Wind Limited, a consortium between Edison Mission Energy and the Renewable Development Company (RDC), however, in December 2002, npower renewables completed the purchase of COWL's interest in the Rhyl Flats site, acquiring the requisite statutory consents6 to build and operate an offshore wind farm.
Contacts:
Judith Roberts, PR Consultant
Tel: 0151 648 0896; Mob: 07801 431 275
Editors Notes:
- npower renewables is a leading UK renewable energy
developer and operator managing a portfolio comprising 19 wind farms and 15 hydroelectric schemes totalling some 460MW of clean power capacity. The company developed and operates the UK's first major offshore wind farm, North Hoyle, located off the North Wales coast, which has been generating since November 2003.
- The Power Generation Group (PG) of Siemens AG is one of
the premier companies in the international power generation sector. In fiscal 2006 (which ended September 30), Siemens PG posted sales amounting to more than EUR10 billion and received new orders totaling EUR12.5 billion, according to U.S. GAAP. Group profit amounted to EUR782 million. On September 30, 2006, PG had a work force of approximately 36,400 worldwide.
For further information visit www.siemens.com/powergeneration
- The turbines are Siemens SWT-3.6-107. The hub height
will be 80m above mean sea level (MSL) and the tip height 134m above MSL.
This compares to the Vestas V-80 wind turbines at North Hoyle which have a hub height of 67m above MSL and a tip height 107m above MSL.
- Rhyl Flats is an area of shallow water directly offshore
from Rhyl; the actual location of the wind farm is further offshore and to the West of Rhyl Flats, on the Eastern end of Constable Bank between Abergele and Rhos-on-Sea. The area of the wind farm is approximately 3.9 square miles (approximately 10 square kilometres). The closest point to shore is Rhos Point, which is 5 miles (approximately 8 kilometres) from the nearest turbine.
- 4 terrawatt hours = 4,000 million kilowatt hours (kWh).
The average UK household uses around 4,700 kWh of electricity every year.
- On 12th December 2002, the Department of Trade &
Industry granted consent under section 36 and section 37 of the Electricity Act to build and operate a power station at Rhyl Flats. A licence from the National Assembly for Wales (administered on its behalf by DEFRA) under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 for the deposit of articles/minerals in the sea/tidal waters, and a consent from the Department for Transport under the Coast Protection Act 1949 for works under or over the seashore lying below the level of mean high water spring, had already been received for the site.
- The UK Government's policy is to increase the
contribution of electricity supplied from renewable sources in the UK to 15% by 2015. One key element of this is to stimulate the development of new technologies such as offshore wind power. In addition, earlier this year, the UK Government signed up to a new European Union (EU) legally binding target of 20% of all the energy used in the EU to come from renewable energy by 2020. This is a very ambitious target and without developing and building new offshore wind farms, the UK will be unable to meet its share of this commitment.
Numerous studies indicate that the offshore wind resource is vast, and in theory offshore wind could supply the total UK electricity requirement. In addition, the skills acquired over the decades in the oil and gas industry make the UK uniquely positioned to exploit this abundant renewable resource, with substantial potential for job creation in the new industry.
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