A WOMAN has returned to her childhood home to work on a £2 billion windfarm development.
Julie Drew, 31, originally of Prestatyn, is overseeing the Gwynt y Mor offshore windfarm which will be visible from Rhyl and Abergele once complete.
Ms Drew, who lives in Bristol, is the Development Manager for the site with a particular responsibility for the environment.
She said: “We take surveys on fish and birds and all marine life to make sure any impact we have on the site is fully assessed. It’s a huge project. We have started the inshore work connecting to the national grid and that’s ongoing between Pensarn and St Asaph. Early next year we’re going to go offshore.”
Ms Drew, a former Prestatyn High student who studied Marine Biology in Newcastle and did a Masters in Marine Technology, said despite the size of the 576 Megawatt windfarm, great effort would go into preserving the ecosystem.
She said: “It’s the whole reason I got into it. All my background is in the environment, and I want to make sure anything we put in our environment won’t harm it.
“Renewables are the way forward. The consultations we have to go through are very robust. We wouldn’t want to build windfarms if they were to have a negative impact.”
The next phase of the project is the installation of scour protection on the seabed before the monopile foundations, which will host the 160 turbines, are put in place.
Ms Drew said: “It’s nice to come back and work on this project. My family still live in this area.
“I suppose my Mum and Dad are a bit sick of me using their house as a hotel!”
Members of the public are invited to open days discussing the RWE Npower project on November 28 from 2pm to 7pm at Canolfan Dewi Sant Community Centre in Pensarn, at Colwyn Bay Library on December 1 from 2pm to 7pm, Rhyl
Library on December 2 from 2pm to 7pm and the Arcadia Room in Venue Cymru on December 3 from 10am to 3pm.