Gwynt y Môr Windfarm: Weekly Progress Report, 7th October 2013

This is a summary of the weekly notice of operations for the Gwynt y Môr Offshore Windfarm issued on 7th October 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 now complete.
• Transition pieces: 137 installed, 23 remaining.
• Export cables: 4 export cables installed; installation is now complete.
• Wind Turbine Generators: 74 installed, 86 remaining.

Navigation Hazards

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

• Unlit objects – there are presently 9 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 23 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 (see our previous notice here).
• Penrhyn Bay, Caernarfon Bay, Gardian, Gardian 2, Gardian 10, Gaillion, 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.
• Kinmel Bay, Athenia, Adventure, Captain P, Commodore P, Endeavour and Buzzard 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.  She also carried out mattress laying operations covering the export cables south of the windfarm.
• South Stack 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 returning to the Port of Mostyn to reload (see our previous notice here).
• JB114 continued drilling operations in Gwynt y Môr windfarm.

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, Colwyn Bay, Caernarfon Bay, Porth Dinllaen, Porth Diana, EMS Viking, Gardian, Gardian 2, Gardian 10, Gaillion, Chinook, Scirocco 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.
• Kinmel Bay, Athenia, Adventure, Endeavour, Captain P, Commodore P, and Buzzard CTVs are sailing from Mostyn.
• Normand Tonjer will continue diving operations including work with the Polar Prince to aid installation of array cables.
• South Stack will continue diving operations at various turbine locations (see the Notice to Mariners 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.

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.