Ocean scientists use seabed mapping to help position giant windfarm
Katrien Van Landeghem at Colwyn Bay with the Gwynt y Mor wind farm in the distanceScientists at 麻豆网 are playing a critical role in paving the way for one of the world鈥檚 biggest wind farms off the coast of North Wales.
They are working with German renewable energy giant RWE on the siting of the Awel y Mr extension which will more than double the size of the Gwynt y M么r wind farm, already the world鈥檚 fifth largest.
Their expertise in 3-D mapping the seabed is crucial in plotting the location of the giant turbines and in helping plan for the next generation of deep water wind farms off the coast of North Wales.
Awel y M么r will lie to the west and more than double the size of Gwynt y M么r 鈥� Sea Wind in Welsh 鈥� which already has 160 turbines spread across 80 square kilometres of Liverpool Bay.
The University鈥檚 School of Ocean Science鈥檚 mapping of the seabed off the North Wales coast and the Irish and Celtic Seas will play a key role in the Government鈥檚 green ambitions to power every home in the country with wind energy by 2030.
That鈥檚 the view of Dr Katrien Van Landeghem, a marine geology expert in seabed morphodynamics, how the shifting ocean floor affects multi-billion pound engineering projects like windfarm construction.
Dr Van Landeghem, from Belgium but living in Colwyn Bay, said: 鈥淎wel y M么r is a huge development but for the Government to reach its targets we will need many more wind farms, including into deeper waters and we need to ensure these developments are cost-effective yet sustainable for the seabed and the animals it supports.
鈥淥ffshore wind is going to be vital in this accelerated schedule to provide low-cost clean power because it is tried and tested 鈥� we know the technology works.
鈥淭o achieve these renewable energy goals by 2030, wind energy will see major investment but I hope the investment in other options of offshore energy extraction will be increased as well.
鈥淚n any case, it means we are going to have to develop our seabed even more carefully now.鈥�
RWE鈥檚 Awel y M么r Project Manager Tamsyn Rowe said: 鈥淲e are really excited to see this programme start.
鈥淲e want to ensure our projects are developed as responsibly as possible. Offshore wind will play a crucial role in Wales鈥� transition to a low carbon future and input from scientists at 麻豆网 is feeding feed into this.鈥�
The Gwynt y M么r wind farm鈥檚 turbines stand 150 metres above the sea and generate 576 megawatts of electricity and Awel y M么r - Sea Breeze 鈥� will add a further 200 turbines.
Beneath the waves they extend down 30 metres as thick steel cylinders anchored to the seabed and buried tens of metres deep to resist the power of waves and tides.
But the next generation turbines could be further out to sea and anchored by chains to the seabed 100 metres down.
Much of the data and resultant imagery used by RWE has been gathered from the university鈥檚 survey ship Prince Madog, based at Menai Bridge, which spends forty days a year on expeditions around the Welsh coastline to map the seabed.
It uses a multibeam system emits sonar signals which bounce back to provide incredibly detailed images of the seabed which still bears the scars of the glaciers which ground their way across it during the last Ice Age 25,000 years ago.
The seabed includes great sand dunes, some several metres high, which can shift and move with the action of the tides and waves.
The School of Ocean Sciences began surveying the seabed in 2012 and in that time have mapped hundreds of square miles and Dr Van Landeghem said: 鈥淲e have to make sure the integrity of the seabed isn鈥檛 harmed and that includes paying attention to where we lay the cables carrying the electricity generated back to shore.
鈥淲e have to look at the surface of the seabed and the habitats it contains because sand waves can be a real nuisance and that鈥檚 where geo-scientists come into it because we map these areas to show how the sand moves.
鈥淲e can track how the seabed has changed because it鈥檚 the interface for all these stories which tells us about the past but also about the present and the future in a way that nothing else does.
鈥淲e need to take samples, video and pictures because it gives us fantastic quality information for when we develop our seabed more intensively.
鈥淔or that to be the case then it鈥檚 important that we all work closely together to make this energy transition a success story.鈥�
For more on the School of Ocean Sciences visit /oceansciences
Publication date: 25 November 2020