Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised Stadtwerke München on its participation in developing the Awel y Môr offshore wind farm, located approximately 10.5km off the Welsh coast in the Irish Sea.
RWE, which now holds a 60% share in the project, is leading the development of the offshore wind farm on behalf of the project partners. Stadtwerke München and Siemens Financial Services have acquired stakes of 30% and 10% respectively.
A seabed lease agreement for the project has now been signed with the Crown Estate, following the authority’s call for extension applications from 2017, which resulted in seven projects being approved, including Awel y Môr, an extension to the existing Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm (in which Stadtwerke München are existing participants together with RWE among others).
A full design and consenting process is now in its early stages and is expected to take up to five years. Subject to consenting process and outcome, the wind farm is expected to be fully operational by 2030. Geophysical surveys at the site, covering some 106 square kilometres off the coast of Wales, have started in June.
The exact size and capacity of the Awel y Môr (meaning Sea Breeze) is still to be determined after the necessary development and consenting activities have finished.
The WFW London team advising Stadtwerke München was led by Corporate Partner Jan Mellmann, assisted by Associate Jennifer Evans. Project advice was provided by Construction Partner Pauline Page and tax advice by Partner Tom Jarvis. Planning and environmental, health and safety (EHS) law advice was provided by Partner Nick Walker.
Jan commented: “We were very pleased to have been chosen by Stadtwerke München to assist them on this major new renewable energy project, demonstrating continued investor interest in UK offshore wind developments. This mandate reinforces our standing as one of the leading firms for UK and European energy projects”.
