A joint venture of TotalEnergies and Simply Blue Group has been awarded a marine licence to build and operate its 100MW Erebus floating wind farm in the UK Celtic Sea.
The Welsh Government issued the licence today to Blue Gem Wind for an array of up to seven turbines housed on semi-submersible floating platforms 35km southwest of Pembrokeshire in Wales.
Permission has been granted for turbines with an individual capacity of up to 18MW and a maximum blade tip height of 270 metres.
The project can also build up to 35 mooring lines, 10 array cables and two single export cables wrapped together along one route.
The government has also consented various configurations of anchoring the project to the sea floor, including up to 63 drag embedment anchors, 35 suction pile anchors, 35 driven pile anchors and 35 drilled piles.
Securing the licence, which expires on 31 December 2054, is a crucial step in allowing the project to participate in the UK government’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) subsidy auction next month.
However, the project requires Welsh Government approval on an outstanding section 36 planning application before it will be eligible to bid in the round.