Five areas identified for Wind Farms by Crown Estate

Five areas in the sea off Wales have been mapped out for the development of floating offshore wind schemes, the Crown Estate has said.

The Crown Estate is an independent property business, which is owned by the monarchy. It confirmed that the ports in Port Talbot and Milford Haven will be at the epicentre of offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea.

"Areas of search"

The organisation has identified five broad “areas of search” for potential windfarm sites. They will utilise innovative technology that can be deployed in deeper water with higher wind than conventional offshore wind farms.

Between Wales and Cornwall, the Celtic Sea is rich in natural resources including wind.

The areas will be refined into small project development areas. Within these, the first generation of commercial-scale floating windfarms could be built. This could be open for competitive tender in mid 2023.

Four Million Homes

It is expected these windfarms will deliver four gigawatts of floating offshore wind power by 2035. This could provide power to almost four million homes.

Research suggests a further 20 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity could be established in the Celtic Sea by 2045. The areas take account of navigation routes, fishing activity and environmental issues, the Crown Estate said.

Huub den Rooijen, managing director marine at the Crown Estate, said: “The Celtic Sea has the potential to become one of the great renewable energy basins of the world, bringing economic growth and abundant clean power.

“This leasing round is a first step, and we need to work together to bring technology costs down, deliver environmentally sound solutions and respect the needs of the many other users of the marine space.”

Full Potential

Greg Hands, energy and climate change minister, said: “We already have the largest offshore wind deployment in Europe. Floating technology is key to unlocking the full potential of our coastline.

“We want to deliver up to 5GW of floating offshore wind by 2030. These projects can help power millions of homes with clean, and cheaper, renewable energy, reducing reliance on expensive fossil fuels.”

“Wherever the sites are developed in the Celtic Sea, then it’s the ports in Port Talbot and Milford Haven that are best placed to serve this market,” said Nicola Clay, head of new ventures marine for the Crown Estate.

The Crown Estate said it was too early to give job creation figures. However some predict up to 10,000 jobs could be created from floating wind farm development in the Celtic Sea. This includes assembly work at Welsh ports and supply chain activities.

“The supply chain will then be centred around South Wales and supported by the rest of the UK,” said Ms Clay.

Out of the five areas identified, four will be leased for development by the Crown Estate with tenders issued by mid-2023.

Greg Hands, energy and climate change minister, said:

“We already have the largest offshore wind deployment in Europe. Floating technology is key to unlocking the full potential of our coastline.

“We want to deliver up to 5GW of floating offshore wind by 2030. These projects can help power millions of homes with clean, and cheaper, renewable energy, reducing reliance on expensive fossil fuels.”