Gwynt y Môr Windfarm: Weekly Progress Report, 23rd December 2013

This is a summary of the weekly notice of operations for the Gwynt y Môr Offshore Windfarm issued on 23rd December 2013 to harbour masters and sea users.  This notice describes progress with construction, recent operations, work planned for the next 7 days, and provides a list of vessels operating on the site with their contact details.

Wind Farm Construction Status

Progress with construction is illustrated in a map here, and summarised below:-

• Monopiles: 160 installed.  Monopile installation is complete.
• Transition pieces: 146 installed, 14 remaining.
• Export cables: 4 export cables installed; installation is complete.
• Array cables: 34 array cables installed, 127 remaining.
• Wind Turbine Generators: 107 installed, 53 remaining.

Navigation Hazards

There are presently a number of navigation hazards in and around the windfarm area.  These include:-

• Unlit objects – there are presently 2 unlit monopiles, transition pieces & turbines within the windfarm boundary.  The location of these hazards is shown in a map here.
• Exposed monopiles – there are currently 14 exposed monopiles, which may be submerged at certain states of tide.  Extreme care should be observed in the vicinity of these monopiles.  Advice about exposed monopiles is given in our previous notice here.

The location of these hazards is shown in a map here.

Work carried out over past 7 days

The following work has been carried out in the past week:

• Friederich Ernestine is at Gwynt y Môr wind farm continuing foundation installation.
  
• Wind Solution has remained at anchor position south of Gwynt y Môr or going to Colwyn Bay for shelter (see our previous notice here).
• Penrhyn Bay, Caernarfon Bay, Abersoch Bay, Gaillion, Gardian 10, Gardian, Colwyn Bay, Scirocco, Porth Dinllaen, Porth Diana, EMS Viking and Endurance utilised as Crew Transfer Vessels when required sailing from Canada Dock 3.
• Penrhos Bay & Tremadoc Bay are on 24 hour cover and being utilised by the Emergency Rescue Team sailing from RWE Pontoon Birkenhead.
• Chinook utilised as Crew Transfer / Stand by vessel as required and based at Liverpool Marina.
• Athenia, Adventure, Endeavour, Buzzard, Captain P, Commodore P, Porth Wen, Iceni Victory and Discovery CTVs sailed from Mostyn as required.
• Isadale  performed guard duties and was used as the Marine Mammal Observation vessel.
• Normand Tonjer has continued diving operations assisting Polar Prince as required.
• Pamela P has been carrying out diving operations at various turbine locations (see the Notice to Mariners here).
• Polar Prince has continued array cable installation.
• Sea Jack and Sea Worker continued turbine installation, assisted by Sea Golf, Sea Bravo, Sea Echo & Bever (see our previous notice here).
• JB114 continued drilling operations in Gwynt y Môr windfarm assisted by Smit Barracuda and Union Diamond.
• Channel Chieftain VII and Cwind Challenger continued refuelling operations on site based from Mostyn.
• Cable vessel Sia joined the project and began array cable transportation.

Work planned for next 7 days

The work planned for the next 7 days on the site is:

• Friederich Ernestine and support vessels will continue with foundation installation.
• Wind Solution will remain at anchor position to the south of Gwynt y Môr (see our previous notice here).
• Sea Jack and Sea Worker turbine installation vessels will continue with wind turbine installation (see our previous notice here).
• Penrhyn Bay, Caernarfon Bay, Abersoch Bay, Gaillion, Gardian 10, Gardian, Colwyn Bay, Scirocco, Porth Dinllaen, Porth Diana, EMS Viking and Endurance will be utilised as Crew Transfer Vessels when required sailing from Liverpool Marina and Canada Dock 3.
• Penrhos Bay & Tremadoc Bay will provide 24 hour Emergency Rescue Team cover.
• Athenia, Adventure, Endeavour, Buzzard, Captain P, Commodore P, Porth Wen, Iceni Victory and Discovery CTVs are sailing from Mostyn.
• Normand Tonjer will continue diving operations including work with the Polar Prince to aid installation of array cables.
• Pamela P will continue diving operations at various turbine locations (see our previous notice here).
• Polar Prince will continue with cable laying operations.
• Isadale will continue performing guard duties and will be used as the Marine Mammal Observation vessel as and when required.
• JB114 will continue with drilling operations at Gwynt y Môr wind farm supported by Smit Barracuda and Union Diamond.
• Channel Chieftain VII and Cwind Challenger will continue refuelling operations on site based from Mostyn.
• Cable vessel Sia will continue with array cable deliveries.

List of vessels at site for next 7 days

The vessels that will be operating on the site over the next 7 days and their contact details are given below.  We have linked up the vessel names to MarineTraffic.com so that with just one mouse click you can find out more about their current location and recent activity.