LAND in Rhyl and elsewhere in Denbighshire has been acquired by the developers of a new offshore wind farm which will become Wales’ largest renewable energy project.
Awel y Môr offshore wind farm is being led by energy company RWE, and as part of the development, a notice of compulsory acquisition has been served.
This follows the awarding of a development consent order to the project, by secretary of state for energy security and net zero, Claire Coutinho, on September 20.
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The area of land concerned starts from the Ffrith Beach in Prestatyn, heading through Rhyl and under the town’s golf course, and into parts of Bodelwyddan, as shown by the map below (affected area within red section):
A spokesperson for RWE said: “We are in regular contact with the land owners, and certainly don’t intend to buy up and knock down any houses.
“This is for an underground utility cable that connects the power station to the National Grid, rather than anything like a road or railway.”
It is hoped that Awel y Môr will be operational by 2030, and that no compulsory purchase orders will be needed for the project.
Awel y Môr is situated in the Irish Sea, approximately 11km off the coast of North Wales, and will connect to the National Grid at the existing Bodelwyddan substation.
Extracts from a notice of compulsory acquisition, shown to the Journal, read: “The Awel y Môr cables will make landfall on the beach to the east of Rhyl, using either horizontal directional drilling or other trenchless techniques.
“Here, the offshore cables will be jointed to the onshore cables at the transition joint bays.
“The onshore cables will then connect to the Awel y Môr onshore substation, near St Asaph, and then on to the National Grid-owned 400kV substation at Bodelwyddan, to allow the power to be transferred to the National Grid.”
The project will be located alongside the operational 576-megawatt Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm and will create hundreds of skilled jobs during construction and operation.
Awel y Môr is planned to have as many as 50 turbines with a maximum height of 332 metres, and covering approximately 78km².
RWE is developing Awel y Môr in a joint venture with Stadtwerke München (30 per cent) and Siemens Financial Services (10 per cent).
It also operates North Wales’ other offshore wind farms - Gwynt y Môr, North Hoyle, and Rhyl Flats.
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