The Crown Estate has refined the ‘areas of search’ for its upcoming 4GW of floating offshore wind lease round in the Celtic Sea.
The seabed authority, which published five areas in the summer, has now reduced the size of zones 2, 3 and 4 and removed areas 1 and 5.
It made the moves after multiple rounds of engagement with stakeholders.
The Crown Estate said it will further refine the areas over the coming months into potential Project Development Areas in order to ensure that developers have access to floating offshore wind locations that are expected to be deliverable in the near term.
This process will continue to be guided by continued engagement with stakeholders, including fishing communities and environmental groups, it added.
The project development areas will be offered to the market via competitive tender, to be launched in mid-2023.
Like the Crown Estate’s Round 4 England and Wales leasing auction, it is understood that bids will not be capped.
However, the auction is expected to have a stronger supply chain component and a focus on the social and environmental value of projects.
Work to identify the project development sites is being undertaken simultaneously with the plan-level Habitats Regulations Assessment, which assesses the potential impact of leasing on environmentally valuable habitats.
The Crown Estate said it will also conduct engineering and environmental surveys in advance of consenting, with a view to being able to supply data to successful bidders to accelerate delivery of their projects, potentially by many months.
Elsewhere, the seabed authority has also advised developers that, as part of their participation, they will be expected to provide a plan of their early investment in support of an internationally competitive supply chain.
Submission of these plans, alongside other legal, financial and technical elements, will determine whether participants qualify for proceeding to the final stage of the tender.
Developers who are successful in the tender will be expected to update their plans as they develop their projects, so that The Crown Estate and other stakeholders can understand how best to support supply chain development.
The final award of an Agreement for Lease for each site will be based on price offered, meaning greatest value delivered for the nation from the tender process.
The Crown Estate head of new ventures marine Nicola Clay said: “This update marks another step towards developing floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea, refining the areas of search and outlining the 2023 tender process.
“Recognising the importance of a strong supply chain, we will be asking bidders to submit their supply chain plans as a key part of their bid.
“In an internationally competitive market, The Crown Estate will continue to facilitate investment in jobs, skills and infrastructure, so that communities neighbouring the Celtic Sea may benefit from the opportunities that a floating wind economy can generate.”
RenewableUK chief executive Dan McGrail said: “This announcement is a key step forward in the roll-out of innovative floating wind projects in British waters.
“We particularly welcome the measures to ensure that the UK builds up a strong floating wind supply chain, and The Crown Estate’s commitment to speed up the development process by carrying out vital environmental work early, as the industry had proposed.
“The Celtic Sea projects will boost our position as a global leader in this cutting-edge technology, as well as enhancing our ability to generate vast amounts of clean electricity at low cost for consumers in the years ahead.
“The UK needs to pull out all the stops to unlock the vast potential of floating wind to strengthen our energy security, as well as bringing enormous industrial benefits in jobs, investment and opportunities to export our technology worldwide.”