The Welsh government have given planning consent for a floating wind farm in Pembrokeshire which could power more than 90,000 homes.
Project Erebus will offer plenty of low carbon energy which will power 93,000 home and it will be located 40km of the Pembrokeshire coast in West Wales.
The wind farm in the first phase of the renewable energy development will include seven 14 megawatt turbines which could generate four gigawatts of energy to power four million homes.
The Erebus project will start operating in 2026 and will hope to gain UK government funding and Blue Gem Wind are expecting to do a joint venture with Simply Blue Group and TotalEnergies.
Mike Scott, project managing director at Blue Gem Wind, said, “We welcome the decision from Welsh ministers to grant the necessary planning consents for project Erebus and have been working with Planning and Environment Decisions Wales and other key stakeholders since 2019 to develop a project that is sympathetic to the natural environment and minimises impacts to local communities and stakeholders.
“Erebus, which will be the first floating wind farm in Wales, will play a crucial role in advancing the deployment of what will become a globally important low carbon technology.”
Mark Drakeford, Wales’ First Minister, said, “The Erebus project has the potential to show the world that Wales and the Celtic Sea can deliver renewable energy alongside the sustainable management of our marine resources.
“In determining the marine license and the planning consents, the Welsh government and our partners in Natural Resources Wales have enabled this project to move forward to apply for subsidy support from the UK government.
“I urge the UK government to do its part through the Contracts for Difference process to drive the industry forward by working with the Erebus team to secure the first floating offshore wind project in Welsh waters, bringing jobs and green energy to our communities.”
A UK Government spokesperson said, “We are committed to building on our leading position as part of our wider efforts to increase our energy security and independence.
“This is underlined by our announcement in the British Energy Security Strategy of our ambition to deploy up to 5GW of floating wind generation by 2030.
“While we cannot comment on specific projects, the government recognises the potential of floating offshore wind and the UK already has the world’s first and largest floating windfarms.”
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