The tidal farm, which will use MCT’s SeaGen tidal energy technology, will be situated between the Skerries islands and Carmel Head, about 1km off the Anglesey coast.
If the planning consent is granted to SeaGeneration Wales, the MCT/RWE npower renewables project company, the wind farm — consisting of seven twin-rotor turbines arranged across an area of 0.56km2 — will be the first tidal array to be deployed in Wales.
SeaGen is a proven technology, the first 1.2MW unit having been successfully operated in Strangford Narrows, Northern Ireland, since 2008, and it is officially accredited by OFGEM as the UK’s first and only tidal current power plant.
The project will cost approximately £70m to develop and, where possible, local businesses will be contracted for the assembly, installation, operation and maintenance of the tidal array.
MCT has undertaken a series of environmental and technical studies and consulted a range of local residents, as well as local and national organisations, including the RSPB, Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Sciences, the Countryside Council for Wales and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, to consider the impact of the project over its 25-year operational lifespan.
Comment: assessing the future of Britain’s road network
It seems to me, as I drive around, that a significant proportion of potholes are not actually potholes at all, but sunken grids and manhole covers....