RWE to Gauge Welsh Supply Chain Capabilities for 1 GW of Floating Wind

RWE has signed a contract with UK-based Marine Power Systems (MPS) to explore the feasibility of deploying up to 1 GW of floating wind in the Celtic Sea, using local ports and supply chain.

The company has commissioned MPS to develop a project plan for delivering up to 1 GW of floating wind using the ports Associated British Ports (ABP) Port Talbot and Pembroke Dock for foundation and turbine assembly.

In addition, the study will identify what materials and components could be sourced from South Wales and the wider supply chain.

The partnership will allow RWE to learn more about MPS’ offshore wind foundation solution, called PelaFlex, and how it could be deployed from the region’s ports into the Celtic Sea, RWE said.

MPS’solution aims to help increase local content by leveraging existing supply chain capability and enabling a wide range of ports to support deployment, according to RWE. Next year, MPS is deploying its multi-MW PelaFlex project at the Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) in Bilbao.

“Our technology has been designed to optimise local content delivery through a decentralised logistics model, and these benefits help utility scale developers such as RWE minimise costs whilst maximising local economic benefits and accelerating industrial scale farm development”, said Gareth Stockman, CEO at MPS.

Prior to the study, RWE has already signed agreements with the two deep-water ports in the region, ABP Port Talbot and Pembroke Dock, as well as co-operation agreement with Tata Steel UK to explore how these facilities may be utilised for Celtic Sea floating wind.

RWE is preparing to bid into the Crown Estate Celtic Sea seabed leasing round in 2023 where up to 4 GW of floating wind will be awarded, with many more gigawatts expected in the future, the offshore wind developer said.

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