Wales Set to Welcome First Floating Wind Farm Worth 100 MW Capacity

France-bases TotalEnergies and Ireland's Simply Blue Group have received a nod for the Erebus floating offshore wind farm for 100 MW capacity.

France-bases TotalEnergies and Ireland’s Simply Blue Group have received a nod for the Erebus floating offshore wind farm for 100 MW capacity. The wind farm will be established in the Celtic Sea. This is said to be the first of its kind wind farm off the Wales coast.

For the said project, a s36 application has been given the green signal with conditions, as per the Welsh Government. This is a landmark decision since the wind farm is set to the largest floating wind farm to get complete planning consent in the UK till date. The approval follows the grant of a marine licence by Natural Resources Wales in February to establish an array of up to seven 14 MW turbines.

The planning decision will permit the JV between TotalEnergies and Simply Blue Group (joint venture) called Blue Gem Wind, to bid the floating wind farm into the United Kingdom’s next Contract for Difference (CfD) round. The timeline for the projects will be the end of March towards the qualification for the tender.

Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford said about the project, “We are ambitious for the floating offshore wind sector in Wales – we believe it has the potential to deliver sustainable sources of energy into the future and it is also a once-in-a-generation opportunity to open up new markets for local suppliers and to create thousands of high-quality jobs in Wales.” He added, “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.”

Mike Scott, Project Managing Director at Blue Gem Wind, added, “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.” He further remarked, “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.”

In 2021, TotalEnergies and Simply Blue Group launched a joint venture, TotalEnergies SBE US, to unlock the potential for floating offshore wind projects in the United States.