Substation construction for Morlais tidal energy project wraps up

The construction of the £24 million substation for the Morlais tidal stream energy project has been completed and the substation has been delivered to site owner Menter Môn Morlais.

Civil engineering firm Jones Bros has handed over the substation to Menter Môn Morlais in a move said to signal the successful delivery of the first phase of the project within the timeframe and to budget.

Completion of the substation means the project can move to the next phase as it prepares for the deployment of turbines in the sea from 2026.

The Morlais substation building was officially opened by the First Minister of Wales on October 20, 2023.

“We are delighted to have reached this point in the development of Morlais. It was a pleasure to work with Jones Bros. From the beginning their efficiency and safety record has been second to none and our shared values of creating local jobs meant we have been able to deliver on one of our main objectives – to secure local benefit from this important project,” said Gareth Roberts, Operations Manager with Menter Môn Morlais Ltd.

According to Menter Môn, having started on site, near Holyhead in the spring of 2022, the project has so far delivered substantial employment and training opportunities as promised and over 70 Jones Bros employees worked on the site, including ten apprentices, with 86% from the north Wales region.

Several other local companies also participated in this phase on site, including Cadarn Consulting and OBR Construction.

“We’re excited to be moving to the next phase which will see us engaging with developers of tidal stream technology to ensure we can begin to generate low carbon electricity in the sea here from 2026. We’d also grateful to the local community for their cooperation during construction of the substation, this is a project I hope we can all be proud of,” Roberts said.

To remind, the Morlais tidal energy project secured €37.6 million of grant funds from the EU’s Regional Development back in March 2022.

Located off the northwest coast of Holy Island, the consented area for the installation and commercial demonstration of multiple arrays of tidal energy devices will be suitable for a maximum installed capacity of 240 MW.

Once fully operational, the Morlais scheme will be able to provide clean power for over 180,000 homes.

Developers that have agreed connections at Morlais include HydoWing Inyanga Marine Projects, Môr Energy QED Naval, Verdant Power, and Magallanes Renovables.