ABPmer to Carry Out Physical Process Assessment for Welsh Floater

ABPmer has been commissioned to complete the physical process impact assessment in support of the Development Consent Order Application for the Erebus floating wind farm offshore Wales.

Blue Gem Wind, the joint venture between Simply Blue Energy and Total, is developing floating offshore wind sites in Welsh waters of the Celtic Sea.

The first demonstration site is the 96 MW Erebus project approximately 44 kilometres southwest of the Pembrokeshire coastline.

ABPmer is part of the marine EIA team being led by MarineSpace.

The physical process assessment will investigate the potential effects of the WindFloat™ floating wind platform and supporting infrastructure on the wave, flow and sediment transport regime through construction, operation, and decommissioning of the wind farm.

New physical process impact assessment methods will be developed to account for the different underwater profile and mooring systems used by the WindFloat™ platform, ABPmer said.

Existing methods and evidence will be used to inform the assessment of potential impacts from the more traditional transmission infrastructure.

“We are very excited to be part of the Erebus team, the move to floating wind will further harness the UK’s offshore wind resource and should contribute significantly to the Government’s target of being a Net Zero emitter of carbon by 2050,” Tony Brooks, ABPmer’s Renewables Business Manager, said.

“We are expertly placed to deliver this element of the EIA, having provided physical processes and metocean support to over 35 other offshore wind projects around the UK and overseas.”