Offshore surveys are now underway at the Awel y Môr offshore wind farm in Wales following the project securing a Contract for Difference (CfD) in the UK’s seventh allocation round (AR7).
RWE said the work marks the first package of contracts placed since the CfD award, with contractors Geo and TGS carrying out geotechnical and geophysical surveys across the project’s 78-square-kilometre array area and export cable route.
TGS is conducting seabed imaging and geophysical investigations to map the seabed’s geology in detail and identify any major boulders and other seabed features that may impact offshore construction.
Geo is undertaking cone penetration testing (CPT) and vibrocore sampling to assess seabed conditions. The company will deploy two vessels, including the newly built heavy-duty CPT rig GeoScope II , which will be used in the wind farm’s array area.
The surveys will support further design refinements for the offshore wind farm and the export cable route to the landfall site between Rhyl and Prestatyn.
“This additional survey data will enable the team to make design refinements and fine tune our methods for offshore construction, which is currently planned to begin in 2029”, said Jo Pickard , Senior Consents Manager for RWE.
According to the developer, the next step for the project is reaching a final investment decision (FID).
Onshore construction is planned to begin in 2027 with work on the onshore substation, followed by cable route construction in 2028.
The offshore wind farm, expected to have an installed capacity of 775 MW, is planned to be built off the coast of North Wales, adjacent to the existing Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm, and to comprise up to 50 turbines.
Awel y Môr is one of the seven extension projects that were awarded a seabed lease agreement by the Crown Estate in 2020. The UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero granted development consent for the offshore wind project in 2023.
In January this year, RWE secured CfDs for 6.9 GW of offshore wind projects in the UK government’s AR7, including the Awel y Môr offshore wind farm.
RWE is developing Awel y Môr with project partners Stadtwerke München (30 per cent) and Siemens Financial Services (10 per cent).