Major boost for floating offshore wind energy in Celtic Sea

DEVELOPER for a third huge floating offshore wind farm in ithe Celtic Sea has been confirmed by the Crown Estate.

- SION BARRY

As part of licensing round five, the Crown Estate back in September failed to get an option deal to lease arraignment for the third site that straddles both English and Welsh waters.

However, it has now confirmed that Ocean Winds, a joint venture between Spanish firm EDP Renewables and French venture ENGIE, is set to be awarded the rights for the third 1.5 gigawatt site.

Norwegian energy venture Equinor and Gwynt Glas - a joint venture between EDF power solutions and Irish Government-owned ESB - have already entered into lease deals with owner of the seabed, the Crown Estate, for their respective 1.5 gigawatt floating wind farm schemes.

The project from Gwynt Glas is solely in Welsh waters off the coast of Pembrokeshire, while the scheme from Equinor is located wholly in English waters.

Once all three are operational, in the mid 2030s, they will have combined capacity for 4.5 gigawatt of clean energy that would generate the electricity needs for more than four million homes and create more than 5,000 direct and supply chain jobs - creating a £1.5bn economic boost.

Ocean Winds and the Crown Estate will now work towards finalising an agreement for lease, which is expected to conclude next spring.

It will also need to outline which ports it intends to work with to support the final assembly and deployment of the new floating turbines, with Port Talbot and Port of Bristol previously identified as potential locations for this activity.