CONSTRUCTION of a wind farm off the coast of Mostyn at a cost of two billion euros is gathering pace.
Two supergrid transformers, which will form a new substation at St Asaph Business Park, have arrived and the third will make the journey from the Port of Mostyn on Sunday.
The transformers will be used to convert the voltage of the electricity generated by the 160 offshore wind turbines so it can be fed into the National Grid.
Toby Edmonds, director of the Gwynt y Môr project, said: “The complex logistical operations to move the first two transformers along the A55 have already been carried out successfully.
“Each convoy was long and slow-moving, but we worked in collaboration with the local authorities and police to ensure any disruption to other motorists was kept to a minimum.
“We apologise to drivers if their journey west along the A55 is slightly longer than expected this Sunday morning.
“The first two transformers are now in place on site and over the coming months will be connected to other sections of the substation and offshore wind farm.
"They will convert the voltage from 132kV carried from the offshore substations via sub-sea and underground cables, to the 400kV voltage required by the National Grid.”
Each 271-tonne transformer is being carried to site on a girder trailer, powered by three trucks.
The new substation only requires two transformers to function but a third is being delivered in case either transformer fails.
The offshore windfarm, being built by RWE npower renewables, will be one of the largest in Europe and will also include two offshore substations, a large onshore substation and 11km of underground cabling.
The Port of Mostyn will be the maintenance base for the project, creating 100 skilled jobs.
It is expected to produce energy equivalent to the annual needs of 400,000 homes.
Offshore construction is expected to start in early 2012 and be completed in 2014.
A slow-moving convoy carrying the transformer will travel west along the A55 between Flint at junction 33 and St Asaph at junction 26 between 7am-11am on Sunday.