A WEATHER mast providing information on wind speeds to better inform renewable energy projects based in the Celtic Deep will be erected on the Angle Peninsula this month.

The met mast, due to be deployed in early March, will be sighted on the old airfield, half a kilometre inland of East Pickard Bay, for a duration of 15 months.

The mast is being installed by Blue Gem Wind; a joint venture between Total, one of the world's largest energy companies, and Simply Blue Energy, a Celtic Sea sustainable blue economy developer.

Blue Gem Wind is focussed on developing floating wind in the Celtic Sea using a steppingstone approach.

The company's first project, Erebus, is a proposed floating offshore wind development, comprising of between seven and 10 floating wind turbine generators located approximately 44 km southwest of the Pembrokeshire coastline.

Named after the famous ship built in Pembroke Dock in 1826, it is believed to be the first in a series of projects planned for the Celtic Sea.

It aims to deliver enough electricity to supply approximately 90,000 homes. West Angle Bay and Sawdern Point are both currently being considered as points where a cable carrying the power from the turbines would reach land.

"The met mast will provide wind speed and other weather-related data so we can better understand the wind resource of the Celtic Sea," said David Jones, the project's stakeholder manager.

"This important data will enable us to optimise the design of potential offshore floating wind projects in the region. Once the data has been collected the mast will be removed."

Independent studies suggest that there is between 15-50 GW of floating offshore wind capacity that could be developed in the Celtic Sea making the area and floating wind technology, a key tool in climate change mitigation.

The met mast and onshore monitoring equipment is provided by south Wales supplier, Solar Wheel, and is an essential part of understanding the wind resource in the Celtic Sea.

Lucy Bywaters, project manager at Solar Wheel said:

"As a small family-run company from Brechfa, Carmarthenshire, we are delighted to be working with Blue Gem Wind.

"We have been delivering wind data solutions since 1990 and look forward to providing information that could help progress Wales' first floating offshore wind projects."