Ocean Scientists Use Seabed Mapping to Help Position Giant Windfarm Geoscientists in SOS are playing a critical role in paving the way for one of the world’s biggest wind farms off the coast of North Wales.
They are working with German renewable energy giant RWE on the siting of the Awel y Môr extension which will more than double the size of the Gwynt y Môr wind farm, already the world’s fifth largest. Their expertise in 3-D mapping the seabed and the sediment layers underneath is crucial in plotting the location of the giant turbines and in helping to plan for wind farms off the coast of North Wales. Awel y Môr - Sea Breeze in Welsh – will lie to the west of Gwynt y Môr – Sea Wind – which already has 160 turbines spread across 80 square kilometres of Liverpool Bay. The SOS mapping of the seabed off the North Wales coast and the Irish and Celtic Seas will play a key role in the Government’s green ambitions to power every home in the country with wind energy by 2030.
Dr Katrien Van Landeghem says: “Awel y Môr is a huge development. For the Government to reach its targets, we will need even more wind farms, including into deeper waters. We need to ensure these developments are cost-effective yet sustainable for the seabed and to the marine life it supports. “Offshore wind is going to be vital in this accelerated schedule to provide low-cost clean power because it is tried and tested – we know the technology works.
“To achieve these renewable energy goals by 2030, wind energy will see major investment but I hope the investment in other options of offshore energy extraction will be increased as well. RWE’s Awel y Môr Project Manager Tamsyn Rowe said: “We are really excited to see this programme start. “We want to ensure our projects are developed as responsibly as possible. Offshore wind will play a crucial role in Wales’ transition to a low carbon future and input from scientists at Bangor University is feeding into this.”
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