RWE Innogy opens biggest offshore wind farm in Wales
Posted: 2 December 2009
The Right Honourable Peter Hain, the UK’s Secretary of State for Wales, together with Dr Juergen Grossmann, Chief Executive Officer of RWE AG, officially opened Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm in North Wales.
The wind farm is situated five miles off the north Wales coast, in Liverpool Bay.
With an installed capacity of 90 megawatts (MW), Rhyl Flats is the biggest Welsh power station producing energy from renewable sources.
Its 25 wind turbines will power the equivalent of 61,000 households per year and save several tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions.
"RWE is moving at a fast pace with the development of renewable energies. RWE Innogy is one of the fastest growing companies in this sector in Europe," Dr Juergen Grossmann, CEO of RWE AG, said.
"We intend to have projects with a volume of 10,000 megawatts in operation by 2020 and are investing €1 billion per year."
"I would like to congratulate RWE npower renewables on the completion of Rhyl Flats, so far the largest offshore wind farm in Wales," said Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Wales.
"RWE npower renewables is the biggest developer and operator of renewable projects in Wales, setting an excellent example in the way it uses natural resources. In doing so, RWE makes an important contribution to climate protection and creates numerous jobs in the energy production industry."
RWE Innogy invests around €1 billion each year in the development of renewable energy technology in Europe. Approximately 70% of these funds is used for the development of onshore and offshore wind farms.
"It took just 14 months from the installation of the first monopile foundation to the trial operation of Rhyl Flats," said Fritz Vahrenholt, CEO RWE Innogy.
"This is a major achievement involving hundreds of people from within and outside the company. I am confident that with such an experienced and motivated team we will achieve RWE’s ambitious renewable energy growth targets."
The offshore construction work at Rhyl Flats began in April 2008. In all, 25 Siemens wind turbines, each with a capacity of 3.6 MW, were mounted in an area of nearly four square miles. The foundation piles were sunk at a depth of around 50 feet.
RWE Innogy has been running the offshore wind farm North Hoyle (60 MW) off the Welsh coast since 2004. Only a few miles further south, the company is planning to build Gwynt y Môr Wind Farm which will have several hundred megawatts of installed capacity.
In addition, RWE Innogy has a 50 per cent share in the Greater Gabbard Wind Farm which is located off the Suffolk coast. Following its completion in 2011, this wind farm will have a total capacity of 500 MW.
RWE Innogy is also planning to promote the offshore wind business off the continental European coast.
In Belgium, the company is involved in building the Thornton Bank Wind Farm of which the first development stage, consisting of 30 MW, has already come on stream. RWE Innogy is currently developing two wind farms in the North Sea off the German coast, with 300 and 950 megawatts of installed capacity respectively.
Posted by Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com
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