Blue Gem Wind, the joint venture between Total, one of the world’s largest energy companies, and Simply Blue Energy has begun its 2021 Celtic Sea offshore survey campaign.

GEOxyz has started geophysical survey work at the Erebus floating wind site which is 45km South West of the Pembrokeshire coastline.

Myriam Samba, Dep Technical Manager at Blue Gem Wind said,

“It is positive to be offshore once again to follow-up on our surveys which began in August 2020. We are continuing to build a detailed picture of the what the seabed is like for our Erebus project, which will enable us to build the most efficient floating offshore wind farm we can, with the least environmental impact.”

The offshore surveys follow on from a recent temporary onshore met mast installation on the Angle Peninsula.

Mike Scott, Project Managing Director, added, 

“Whilst local residents are becoming familiar with our onshore met mast, it is offshore where most of our activity will continue to happen and we look forward to evaluating the results of this and future survey work out in the Celtic Sea”.

Current offshore surveys are due to last until mid-June.

Floating wind has wide potential, opening access to sites further offshore, which have less impact on the landscape and coastal activity, and benefit from higher wind resources. In a recent report, the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult has advised that there could be as much as 50GW of electricity capacity available in the Celtic Sea and estimated that the first GW of floating wind could potentially deliver over 3,000 jobs and £682m in supply chain opportunities for Wales and Cornwall by 2030. Blue Gem Wind’s first project, Erebus, will provide enough green energy for approximately 90,000 homes per year.