The Crown Estate has revealed the four areas outlined for development of the 4GW floating offshore wind farm in the Celtic Sea. The authority said the four chosen project development areas offer “attractive investment opportunities” for developers due to their close proximity to the shore and “reduced complexity of future grid connections”.
The four areas will now be reviewed by prospective developers over the summer period. If they agree with the Crown Estates chosen preferred development areas, then the sites will proceed to market ahead of the tendering process launching later this year.
The Celtic Sea programme is intended to provide 4GW of renewable energy capacity by 2035 (enough to power four million homes), with the region assessed to have the economic potential to accommodate up to an additional 20GW by 2045.
Read more: Cardiff and Swansea lag behind in attracting overseas investment
The programme aims to boost the UK's net zero ambitions as well as create jobs, skills and investment in Wales and the south west of England. Some predict up to 10,000 new jobs could be created from floating wind farm development in the Celtic Sea, with assembly work at Welsh ports and supply chain activities.
As part of work ahead of the leasing round, the Crown Estate has carried out test and demonstration projects, pre-consent surveys and technical and environmental surveys. It said it is also working with the National Grid to ensure a “timely and coordinated” grid connection plan.
It has also updated the tendering process to focus more on the integration of ports and the supply chain. As part of their bid, developers must set out how they intend to incorporate the role of ports in the building, assembly and deployment of turbines into the Celtic Sea.
Ports are expected to play a key role in the manufacture and storage of the numerous components needed, including foundation assembly, cabling and placing the turbines on top of the floating foundations. The ports must be in relative proximity to project sites so assembled turbines can be floated out to their final locations.
The bidding process will also have greater transparency for developers. Instead of bidders submitting their best and final offer immediately to stand a chance of winning, The Crown Estate will adopt a ‘rising clock’ auction, which will see pricing movements published during the different rounds, allowing greater transparency for developers over whether other parties are still bidding for certain locations.
Final confirmation of the tendering process and the four project development areas is expected over the summer.
Gus Jaspert, Managing Director, Marine, said: “This initial phase of up to 4GW of floating wind in the Celtic Sea has the potential to be among the world’s largest developments of its kind, and we are excited by the opportunity to bring social value to the fore while helping to power the country with clean electricity and stimulate growth and investment.”
He added: “It is also clear that there is a complex mix of competing demands on the seabed in the Celtic Sea, and we are supporting the UK Government as it works to resolve these. As managers of the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we are able to work across the full range of users of the seabed to identify issues such as these, meaning we can take steps to help de-risk projects and secure a pathway to their delivery.
“This is reflected in our updated approach to this leasing round, which also seeks to unlock the opportunities on offer to regions around the Celtic Sea and support a fast route to development.”
Jessica Hooper, RenewableUK Cymru director, said: “This latest update by The Crown Estate lays solid foundations for the first positive steps to deliver trailblazing projects at scale and pace.
“We welcome the focus on driving social value, supporting the critical role of ports and increasing transparency through the auction process. We look forward to continuing the strong industry engagement needed to deliver the maximum investment for our ports and communities, while also emphasising the critical need for a future pipeline.
“To truly capture the thousands of jobs and supply chain opportunities on offer, we must have a clear line of sight of a future leasing round beyond 4GW as soon as possible.”
