Floating windfarms for Bristol
Bristol Port Company confirms plans to development the Bristol Wind Terminal (BWT) at Avonmouth Docks, to be fully operational in 2030.
A major new project to generate renewable energy has been confirmed by the Bristol Port Company (BPC). When complete, the BWT will provide the infrastructure to support the production, marshalling, integration and deployment of floating offshore wind turbine units destined for the Celtic Sea.
Photo by Jesse De Meulenaere
The initial aim is to construct three huge windfarms comprising some 260 turbines, all 300m tall and between them capable of generating 4.5GW of clean, renewable energy. BPC says this is enough to power more than 4m homes.
Such a large infrastructure project presents logistical challenges. For example, the initial phase will require more than 1,000 anchors on the sea bed, 320 km (200 miles) of mooring lines and 800 km (500 miles) of cables to connect the turbines to the grid.
Even so, the long-term plan is to increase the number of units after this initial phase, quadrupling the amount of energy generated.
In doing so, the project will help in wider efforts to meet net zero targets and reduce our reliance on unstable energy markets abroad, meaning a more stable, less expensive supply for customers, and boosting the national economy by some £1.4bn.
The project should also create some 5,300 on-shore jobs, not just as Bristol Port but through the extended supply chain. If the project grows as expected, it could employ 40,000 people by 2040.
The project is part of the Crown Estate’s Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5, which will create 4.5GW of new renewable energy capacity. BPC says that this is enough to power more than 4m homes. What’s more, future rounds have the potential to unlock a further 12 GW of capacity in the Celtic Sea.
The new facility will be capable of handling a range of activities to aid the construction and deployment of wind turbines destined for use in the sea. That includes the assembly or manufacture of sub-structure bases, as well as the integration of the towers, blades and nacelles. The facility will also support the deployment of the completed, floating structures to deep-water sites.
Gus Jaspert, Managing Director for Marine at the Crown Estate, says: ‘Floating offshore wind presents a new transformative opportunity for the country, the region around the Celtic Sea and the marine environment. As the need for new offshore wind capacity increases, we have challenged ourselves to find ways to accelerate its deployment.’
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