Blue Gem Wind, the joint venture between Total, one of the world’s largest energy companies, alongside Simply Blue Energy, a pioneering Celtic Sea blue economy project developer is recruiting to build its local office.
Blue Gem Wind is currently focussing on an initial demonstration project off the Pembrokeshire coast called Erebus, which is a 96MW floating wind farm 45km offshore. Much of the initial work is focussed on project and engineering design and planning.
Floating wind energy is based upon existing technology so it has huge appeal, and the Celtic Sea has a resource that can play a significant role in meeting the UK’s Net-Zero target. The deep water has been the barrier to date, but technology advances are bringing the wind resource off the Welsh coast within reach. This emerging technology 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.
Floating wind has made significant advances in recent years and is set to become a major contributor to global offshore wind capacity over the coming decades. 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 in Irish and UK waters. It is estimated by the Catapult that the first GW in the Celtic Sea, could potentially deliver over 3,000 jobs and £682m in supply chain opportunities for Wales and Cornwall by 2030.
Hugh Kelly, Project Managing Director, said
“We are continuing to build our team in Pembroke Dock as we look to deliver on the significant opportunity that floating wind can bring to the region. Creating new low carbon jobs is always exciting, particularly when it is the start of a new industry. We are also increasing our work on stakeholder engagement, which can be challenging in the current climate and working with local and national partners to deliver future supply chain opportunities”
