BP and EnBW announced the names of their new offshore wind projects in the Irish Sea off Wales on Wednesday, as well as a dedicated supplier portal for the projects.
The two offshore wind farms - named Morgan and Mona - will once built, have a combined potential generating capacity of 3GW. This is enough to power around 3.4 million UK households.
Morgan and Mona were previously referred to as lease areas 1 and 2, or Yellow North and Yellow South. They are approximately 300km² and 500km² in size respectively, are located approximately 30km from the coast, and in average water depths of around 35m.
Explaining the name choice Burkhard Roemhild, EnBW project director said: "We were inspired by the location of these two offshore wind developments and their connection to the region. Morgan means "sea chief" in Old Welsh, and Mona relates to Ynys Môn, the Welsh name for the Isle of Anglesey."
Richard Haydock, BP project director, said: "These leases will play a critical role in helping deliver the UK government’s aim of producing enough offshore wind to power every UK home, quadrupling the country’s generating capacity to 40GW by 2030.
The two companies also encouraged UK-based suppliers to register their interest at enbw-bp.com/suppliers, especially those with connections across North Wales and the northwest of England.
In February, EnBW and BP were jointly selected as preferred bidders for the two leases in the UK Offshore Wind Round 4, the first such UK leasing round since 2010.
This marked BP’s entry into the UK’s offshore wind power sector. EnBW currently has onshore wind assets in Germany, France and Sweden and operates four offshore wind assets in the German Baltic Sea and North Sea.
The partnership is currently undertaking survey work to characterize conditions of the lease areas including geologic conditions, benthic habitat, and presence of obstructions and sensitive resources that will be considered during development of the projects.
"To help the development of Morgan and Mona coexist successfully with traditional maritime industries, the partnership is actively engaging with commercial fishermen and their representatives, gathering insights and feedback," BP said.
"There are several key ferry transport routes for passengers and cargo across the Irish Sea, linking the British mainland with the Isle of Man and Ireland. The partnership is establishing a maritime navigation forum to proactively identify ways to minimize impact to shipping. bp and EnBW are committed to engaging with other regional communities and industries with an interest in the project," BP said.