Rhyl Flats

Rhyl Flats Wind Farm
Rhyl Flats Wind Farm
	Viewed from the air, looking south
Country	United Kingdom
Location	Liverpool Bay, Wales
Coordinates	53°22′N 03°39′W / 53.367°N 3.650°WCoordinates: 53°22′N 03°39′W / 53.367°N 3.650°W
Status	Operational
Construction began	June 2007;
Commission date	December 2009
Owner(s)	Innogy
Wind farm
Type	Offshore
Distance from shore	8 km (5 mi)
Power generation
Units operational	25 x 3.6 MW
Make and model	Siemens Wind Power
Nameplate capacity	90 MW
External links
Commons	Related media on Commons
	[edit on Wikidata]

Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm is a 25 turbine wind farm approximately 8 km north east of Llandudno in North Wales. It is Wales' second offshore wind farm and the third offshore wind farm to be built within Liverpool Bay. It has a maximum rated output of 90 MW.

Construction[]

The Rhyl Flats project was initially developed by Celtic Offshore Wind Limited (COWL) as part of the UK's Round 1 offshore wind farm programme. COWL received consent for the project in 2002, and in December 2002 the project was purchased by Npower Renewables (formerly National Wind Power and now a part of Innogy, a subsidiary of the German firm RWE), who were also developing the neighbouring North Hoyle and Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farms. Offshore construction work at Rhyl Flats began in July 2007 and the completed project was officially opened on 2 December 2009.^[1]

North Hoyle was completed in 2003, just a few kilometres east of Rhyl Flats. The Round 1 projects were intended to act as testbeds; building the UK's understanding of offshore wind, whilst in total also providing well over 1000 MW of green generating capacity for the UK. All of the Round 1 offshore wind farms were limited to a maximum area of 10 km² (3.9 sq mi), and no more than 30 wind turbines.

Output[]

The first electricity was supplied by the site on 15 July 2009. The project consists of 25 Siemens Wind Power SWT-107-3.6 wind turbines, each rated at 3.6 MW capacity. This gives the project a maximum output of 90 MW; a third greater than the neighbouring North Hoyle Offshore Wind Farm, but with 5 fewer wind turbines and spread over a smaller area. At the time of installation, Rhyl Flats is expected to generate enough electricity to power 60,000 homes on average.

Its levelised cost has been estimated at £126/MWh.^[2]

References[]

^ "RWE: Rhyl Flats inauguration press release" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2009.
^ Aldersey-Williams, John; Broadbent, Ian; Strachan, Peter (2019). "Better estimates of LCOE from audited accounts – A new methodology with examples from United Kingdom offshore wind and CCGT". Energy Policy. 128: 25–35. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2018.12.044. hdl:10059/3298.