Kent wins owner's engineer contract for Llŷr Wind Farms in the Celtic Sea

• Kent has been selected as the Owner’s Engineer for the Llŷr 1 and 2 wind farms.

• The Llŷr projects will offer the opportunity for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea, with two test and demonstration arrays that will power in the region of 200,000 homes[1] with 200MW of clean, green energy.

• Cerianne Cummings, Kent’s Offshore Wind Market Director, said: “We are proud to be part of this project, which is paving the way towards the commercialisation of floating wind and therefore a cleaner and greener future for everyone.”

Kent  has been awarded the Owner’s Engineer contract for the Llŷr 1 and 2 wind farms in the Celtic Seas by developer Floventis Energy Ltd. This is a joint venture between Cierco, a renewable energy project development company, and SBM Offshore, specialists in floating offshore energy.

Llŷr, a flagship project for the UK, will further transform the world’s ability to generate renewable electricity from wind. Llŷr projects are demonstrating the potential of two innovative floating offshore wind platforms within an array of 6 - 8 units each.

On this project and in partnership with Vekta Group, Kent will provide multidisciplinary Owner’s Engineer support, covering CDM, Hull and Mooring, Electrical, WTG, Site layout, Geotechnical, Metocean, and project management.

The two 100 MW projects are progressing through pre-FEED, expecting to reach a commercial operation date by 2027. The Llŷr projects will allow floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea, with two test and demonstration arrays that will power in the region of 200,000 homes with 200MW of clean energy.

Cerianne Cummings, Kent’s Offshore Wind Market Director, said:

 “Kent’s knowledge and experience in the fixed and floating wind are unrivalled, which positions us as the ideal company to provide the expertise required on this project.”

“We continually strive to push the boundaries of water depth, seabed type, standardisation, optimisation and asset management. We are proud to be part of this project, which is paving the way toward the commercialisation of floating wind and, therefore, a cleaner and greener future for everyone. We are very excited to be a part of the transition and look forward to working with Floventis on this milestone project.”

David Keenlyside, Engineering Director for Floventis, said:

“The Llŷr wind farms are significant stepping stone projects for the floating wind sector – these two projects are a crucial step as we move towards commercial scale floating projects across the UK and beyond. As part of our commitment to delivering local economic and social value, we are working with our global network of partners to demonstrate new technology, advance the UK’s energy security and importantly create new opportunities for the local supply chain.”

Kent is one of the leading providers of engineering and design services to the global offshore wind industry, involved in developing 70% of all UK offshore wind farms and developing the first certified project using the PISA geotechnical design. In the last decade, Kent has delivered 11GW+ operational wind farms, 1,500+ offshore wind structures, and 20+ offshore substations.

Floventis will deliver 20% of the 1 GW UK Government target for floating wind before 2030, setting a new standard for cost reduction pathways for large scale floating offshore wind developments in the UK.

[1] Based on R-UK statistics using BEIS data: https://www.renewableuk.com/page/UKWEDExplained/Statistics-Explained.htm