Cierco Energy and Marine Power Systems (MPS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to deploy MPS PelaFlex floating wind technology at one of the Llŷr demonstration project sites in the Celtic Sea. This is described as the first step towards deploying PelaFlex technology at the site.
Marine Power Systems (MPS) and Cierco Energy signed a Memorandum of Understanding covering the potential deployment of MPS's PelaFlex floating wind platform technology at one of the Llŷr 1 or Llŷr 2 floating offshore wind demonstration project sites in the Celtic Sea. The MoU was described as a first step towards demonstrating PelaFlex at a Llŷr site, supporting technology selection for the project's floating turbine support structures. The agreement covers collaboration on platform selection, design interface work and deployment planning, but does not constitute a supply or fabrication contract. A formal foundation supplier appointment, with associated commercial terms and scope of supply, remains contingent on subsequent project decisions, consent progression and final investment decision for the demonstration programme. The partnership was announced during the early-development phase of the Llŷr demonstration project, with Cierco Energy acting as the developer and MPS as the floating platform technology provider.
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Llŷr 1 and Llŷr 2 are a pair of 100 MW floating offshore wind test-and-demonstration projects (200 MW combined) proposed in the Celtic Sea within Welsh waters, offshore from Pembrokeshire. The projects are being developed as two separate test arrays to demonstrate and compare different floating p...
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Llŷr 1, Llŷr 2, Project Llŷr, Llŷr Floating Wind Farm, Llŷr Floating Wind Projects, Llŷr 1 Floating Wind Farm (Phase 1), Llŷr 2 Floating Wind Farm (Phase 2), Llŷr Floating Wind Ltd, Floventis Energy Llŷr, Llŷr 1 & 2, Llŷr Projects
In 2024, Floventis directly commissioned Ocean Ecology to carry out and complete an alternative export cable route benthic characterisation survey for the Llŷr projects using multibeam echo sounder and drop‑down video techniques from the vessel Argyll Explorer, enabling identification of environmentally suitable cable routes through non‑reef areas and minimising impacts on sensitive habitats.
Llŷr Floating Wind Ltd submitted a Section 36 application to the Welsh Ministers under the Electricity Act 1989 for the Llŷr 1 Floating Offshore Wind Farm, which includes deemed planning permission for the associated onshore transmission infrastructure under section 90(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The application covers offshore and onshore transmission cables and ancillary works, including an offshore export cable of approximately 55 km from the array area to landfall at Freshwater West, around 7.1 km of buried onshore transmission cable, and a new onshore substation about 1.5 km south of Pembroke Power Station to connect to the National Grid Electricity Transmission network.
Alongside the Section 36 application, Llŷr Floating Wind Ltd submitted a separate application to the Natural Resources Wales Marine Licensing Team under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 for a marine licence. This marine licence application covers the works to construct, operate and maintain the offshore generating station and its associated offshore transmission infrastructure, including the export cable route from the array area to landfall at Freshwater West.
Following submission of the Section 36 application for the Llŷr 1 Floating Offshore Wind Farm, the Welsh Ministers, via Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW), opened a statutory consultation and representation period from 28 November 2024 to 28 March 2025, inviting written responses on the proposed offshore generating station and associated onshore transmission works.
An Environmental Statement (ES) for the Llŷr 1 Floating Offshore Wind Farm, including assessment of the array cables and offshore export cables, was prepared by Llŷr Floating Wind Ltd in August 2024 and submitted to accompany the marine licence application to Natural Resources Wales. The ES is identified as Volume 6: Appendix 19C – Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Assessment and related volumes, and copies are made available on the NRW public register as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment process for the marine licence.
In August 2024 Llŷr Floating Wind Ltd submitted a Section 36 application under the Electricity Act 1989 to the Welsh Ministers, seeking consent, including deemed planning permission for associated onshore works, to construct and operate the Llŷr 1 Floating Offshore Wind Farm and its onshore transmission infrastructure.
Over the three years leading up to August 2024, Llŷr Floating Wind Ltd carried out a full Environmental Impact Assessment for the Llŷr 1 and 2 projects to understand potential effects on the environment and local communities and to identify measures to avoid or mitigate impacts, with the findings compiled in an Environmental Statement submitted alongside the consent applications.
Llŷr Floating Wind Ltd prepared and issued the Environmental Statement Volume 6 Appendix 19C – Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Assessment for Llŷr 1, including detailed modelling of EMF emissions from the 66 kV array and offshore export cables (with 132 kV export options also considered). The study analyses magnetic field densities around the subsea export cable system, assesses different burial depths, and uses manufacturer cable data and power-flow modelling to represent a maximum export of about 99 MW at shore, providing key design input for the Llŷr export cable corridor.
Llŷr Floating Wind Ltd submitted a Marine Licence application in August 2024 under Part 4 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 to Natural Resources Wales, seeking consent to construct, operate and maintain the Llŷr 1 Floating Offshore Wind Farm, including offshore works on the seabed, moorings and export cable.
Llŷr Floating Wind Ltd ran a developer-led pre-application public consultation on the Llŷr 1 floating offshore wind farm from 15 January to 11 February 2024, sharing project information and inviting feedback to help shape the detailed design and forthcoming consent applications.
Kent was appointed as Owner’s Engineer for the Llŷr 1 and Llŷr 2 floating offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea, with partner Vekta Group providing multidisciplinary support across CDM, hull and mooring, electrical systems, wind turbines, site layout, geotechnical, metocean and project management while the two 100 MW projects progress through pre-FEED towards an expected 2027 commercial operation date.
By 1 March 2023, survey contractor N-Sea had completed a series of offshore geophysical surveys for the Llŷr 1 and Llŷr 2 floating wind projects, covering the array areas and export cable route corridors from the vessel N-Sea Spirit to establish a baseline ground model to support the projects’ Environmental Impact Assessment and further development.
By early March 2023, benthic habitat characterisation surveys for Llŷr 1 and Llŷr 2 had been completed across the offshore array areas and export cable route corridors, with N-Sea and Ocean Ecology collecting seabed habitat data that, together with laboratory analysis, ground‑truthed the geophysical data and provided a baseline for future monitoring and the Environmental Impact Assessment.
Floventis Energy Limited, a newly established joint venture between SBM Offshore and Cierco, was formed to co-own and develop the Llŷr 1 and Llŷr 2 100 MW floating offshore wind demonstration projects in the Celtic Sea south of Pembroke, after the projects were selected in the Crown Estate’s Celtic Sea floating wind leasing round. The JV combines SBM Offshore’s floating offshore expertise with Cierco’s renewable project development capability to take the Llŷr sites through leasing, environmental assessment and consent processes.
On 27 July 2021, The Crown Estate selected Floventis Energy, a joint venture between SBM Offshore and Cierco, to develop the Llŷr 1 and Llŷr 2 floating offshore wind demonstration projects, each 100 MW, south of Pembroke in the Celtic Sea, allowing the projects to progress to plan-level Habitats Regulations Assessment as a step towards securing seabed agreements for lease.
Llŷr Floating Wind Ltd submitted a grid connection application to National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO) to connect the Llŷr 1 & 2 floating offshore wind projects’ export cables and associated onshore transmission works to the National Grid point of connection adjacent to Pembroke Power Station. This application covers the transmission of power from landfall at Freshwater West via buried onshore cables to a new onshore substation approximately 1.5 km south of Pembroke Power Station.
Llŷr Floating Wind Ltd states that the Llŷr project, which includes offshore and onshore transmission cables and a new onshore substation connecting near Pembroke Power Station, is expected to operate for up to 30 years from final commissioning, after which a decommissioning process for the project infrastructure will commence, broadly mirroring the installation sequence in reverse.
The developer anticipates that once decommissioning of the Llŷr project, including its associated transmission infrastructure, has begun after an operational life of up to 30 years, the decommissioning phase will be completed within approximately 12 months.
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