Seabed leases have been awarded by The Crown Estate (the body that manages the UK’s seabed licensing) to Equinor, and the Gwynt Glas joint venture between EDF Renewables UK and Irish utility ESB to develop two 1.5 GW floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea. Each bidder will pay an annual option fee of £350 per MW. A third 1.5 GW project development area remains in reserve, with The Crown Estate expected to announce further details by September.
The awards were announced following the conclusion of Round 5 of the UK’s offshore wind leasing programme, the first to target floating wind technology at a commercial scale. Floating wind allows turbines to be deployed in deeper waters beyond the reach of traditional fixed-bottom foundations, unlocking new regions like the Celtic Sea for development.
Commenting on the results of Round 5 for sites in the Celtic Sea off the south coast of Wales and the south west coast of England, director of RenewableUK Cymru Jessica Hooper commented: “This technology has the potential to be transformative for the Welsh economy. Wales is poised to play a leading role in offshore wind. Over the next decade alone, there is up to £32 billion in economic value at stake, a £4.8 billion opportunity for Welsh businesses, alongside more than 3,000 well-paid jobs.
ESB’s executive director Jim Dollard called the Celtic Sea “of strategic importance” to the Irish utility, enabling it to scale up floating wind capacity on both sides of the Irish Sea.
Port Talbot and the Port of Bristol have been named as likely hubs for final turbine assembly. Agreements for lease are expected this autumn, enabling Equinor and Gwynt Glas to begin formal development and consent processes.
Both projects could contribute first power before the end of the decade.
More details from The Crown Estate on Leasing Round 5 are available here.
£1 bn investment in UK offshore wind
The UK government and the UK’s publicly-owned clean power company Great British Energy are working with the wind industry and The Crown Estate (which administers the UK’s offshore seabed) to invest £1 billion in offshore wind supply chain development. RenewableUK’s deputy chief executive Jane Cooper commented: “A concerted focus from industry and government on growing the offshore wind industry’s supply chain in the UK could deliver an extra 10 000 jobs between now and 2035, boosting the UK’s economy by £25 billion. Our sector is stepping up, working closely with the Energy Secretary and the Crown Estate to create new opportunities for manufacturing high-value goods like turbine towers, blades, foundations and cables, and providing high quality jobs building, operating and maintaining offshore wind farms.
Richard Sandford, industry co-chair of the offshore wind industry council (a government and industry forum established in 2013 to drive the development of the offshore wind sector) commented: “Growing our supply chain will help prevent bottlenecks that can increase costs and cause delays, benefitting developers, consumers, and our Clean Power Mission. It is vital that industry and government keep working together to remove barriers, enabling greater capacity through clean power auctions, and securing more investment for the supply chain”.
