100 Jobs in port wind farm deal

A Flintshire port has been chosen as a base to support and maintain a giant offshore wind farm, creating 100 jobs. RWE npower said the £50m deal with the Port of Mostyn would run for the 25 year life of Gwynt y Môr. The company will construct a pontoon and a purpose-built operations and maintenance base. Once fully operational in 2014 the wind farm is expected to generate electricity for about 400,000 homes. It will see 160 wind turbines sited about 10 miles off the coast near Colwyn Bay and Llandudno. RWE npower renewables said it would be offering long-term, skilled engineering jobs at the port. Mostyn will be the base for all the company's offshore wind farms in the area - at Liverpool Bay, North Hoyle, Rhyl Flats and Gwynt y Môr. Project director Toby Edmonds said they were very pleased to have been able to secure Mostyn as their home for the next 25 years. "The Port of Mostyn has already proved itself extremely capable as the base for construction and operation of North Hoyle and Rhyl Flats and this agreement builds on this," he said.The company said it brought the value of Gwynt y Môr-related contracts awarded to north Wales companies to over £70m. Mostyn's managing director Jim O'Toole said it would "significantly increase business and employment opportunities not just for the Port of Mostyn but also for the wider north Wales region." UK Energy Minister Charles Hendry added: "The creation of over 100 skilled engineering jobs is a welcome development for the sector and demonstrates that it is not only the largest ports and coastal communities that can benefit from jobs and economic activity resulting from the offshore wind industry." The 2bn euros (£1.72bn) wind farm's construction began in November 2009 when work to prepare land at St Asaph for a new substation was carried out. Foundation installation will take about two years and is expected to be finished by 2014. The wind farm is expected to start generating power by 2013 and to be fully operational towards the end of 2014.