The go-ahead has been given for a major expansion at the Port of Mostyn that will create 300 new jobs.
The Port of Mostyn is pressing ahead with its plan to build a new berth capable of handling the next generation of floating offshore wind turbines. To put the size an weight of the future turbines into context, the weight of the first turbines handled at the Port in 2002 was 610 tonnes, whereas the next generation will have floating foundations with the weight of the turbine alone being up to 2,000 tonnes.
It is being made possible after Natural Resources Wales granted a Marine Works Licence to build a new 350 metre quay and reclaim 13 acres of operational land behind it. The new quay has been designed to enable the largest jack-up crane barges in the world to berth and load the turbines.
The Port has also announced that it has recently bought the adjoining 45-acre former Warwick International site, which has a significant amount of large buildings that will be used for fabrication and assembly of wind turbine structures and the establishment of supporting services in steel fabrication, electrical, hydraulic and coatings.
Preparatory work will get underway in the Autumn and the construction phase will create 130 jobs and be followed by the 300 permanent ones when the next round of offshore windfarm projects commences in 2027.
In the meantime, the port has commenced negotiations with a number of wind farm developers about them using Mostyn as the construction base for their offshore projects.
The expansion project will see history being made for a second time at the port. It can lay claim to being the birthplace of the UK’s offshore wind industry two decades ago when the first two commercial windfarms to be installed in U.K waters, North Hoyle off the coast of North Wales and Robin Rigg in the Solway Firth, were constructed from Port of Mostyn in 2002.
Managing Director Jim O’Toole said: “Presently there are 240 people employed at the Port servicing three windfarms; this employment number will increase when the supporting services become established. This new twin development will secure the future of the port and is a major step forward for the future of the offshore wind industry in Wales. “Once the Warwick site is integrated into the Port it will increase the land available for our offshore renewable energy projects to 120 acres and its berths to 650m.”