The Crown Estate has updated developers on the status of the Celtic Sea floating wind tender round, highlighting work by the UK government to review a number of spatial considerations relating to the potential locations of proposed wind farms.
In 2021, The Crown Estate set out plans to explore viable options for a potential leasing opportunity for the first commercial-scale floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea off the coast of Wales and south-west of England. This is a new technology which sees turbines placed on floating platforms tethered to the seabed, meaning they can be in deeper waters than fixed-base wind farms.
As part of its work, The Crown Estate has continuously engaged with a range of stakeholders, including governments, industry and other seabed users. This has focused on important issues including the spatial work to identify broad areas of search, with the aim of refining these into project development areas to be made available to market via tender. This process has highlighted the Celtic Sea is subject to many competing demands and that there are a number of spatial considerations and policy drivers that the UK government is working to resolve, supported by the seabed manager.
The Crown Estate has now informed developers that it will set out next steps as London concludes its consideration of these issues and that it will soon circulate further information on the programme as well as a date for the next developer webinar.
Managing director for marine at The Crown Estate Gus Jaspert (pictured) said: “Establishing floating wind in the Celtic Sea presents an exciting opportunity to draw on new technology to provide clean, renewable energy for millions of homes, while also putting the UK at the front of a new global industry, with opportunities to drive skills, investment and growth.
“However, the UK’s seabed is a complex ecosystem of natural habitats and vital industries, of which renewable energy is one part. Our role is to ensure the seabed continues to deliver value for the whole country for generations to come: taking a strategic, holistic view of the myriad uses and demands on this resource to catalyse our transition away from fossil fuels while working to support the protection and enhancement of the natural environment.
“That is why we are supporting the UK government as it reviews a number of spatial considerations in the Celtic Sea, as part of our role to de-risk offshore renewable projects as far as possible at an early stage. We look forward to bringing developers together as soon as we are able to update them on next steps.”