The Crown Estate has published the bidding guidlines for its Round 5 auction, comprising three commercial-scale floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea off the coast of South Wales and South West England.
The sites, which would be located off the coast of South Wales and South West England, will have a combined capacity of up to 4.5GW.
They are expected to be the first phase of commercial development in the region, with the UK government confirming as part of its Autumn Statement in November 2023 its intention to unlock space for up to a further 12GW of capacity in the Celtic Sea.
The Round 5 leasing programme follows four previous leasing rounds by The Crown Estate, which have helped establish the UK as one of the leading offshore wind markets in the world, with almost half as much operational capacity as the rest of Europe combined said the seabed manager.
Preparations include upfront investment in important workstreams to de-risk the process for developers and accelerate the deployment of projects.
This includes a multi-million-pound programme of marine surveys to better understand the physical and environmental properties around the locations of the new wind farms, as well as carrying out a Plan-Level Habitats Regulations Assessment early on in the process.
An Information Memorandum published today also includes details of a series of contractual commitments for developers to create positive social and environmental impacts, focused on skills and training, tackling inequalities in employment, environmental benefits and working with local communities.
Bidders will also be required to demonstrate commitments for the timely access to the port infrastructure needed to successfully develop their projects.
The Crown Estate has commissioned new research, due to be published in the new year, to provide a view on how best to maximise the economic and social benefits arising from Round 5 and the longer-term sustainable development of the offshore wind industry.
It has also outlined its intention to bring forward a new pilot fund to help accelerate supply chain projects, with an initial focus on opportunities arising from Round 5 with further details expected to be set out in the first part of 2024.
Crown Estate chief executive Dan Labbad said: “At its core, the Crown Estate’s role is to serve the country by using its land and seabed to create the best value we can for the nation and for future generations – including social, environmental and financial.
“This means drawing on the skills, knowledge and input from our full range of stakeholders as we seek to play our part in responding to some of the biggest challenges, whether that’s climate change, nature loss or enabling economic growth.
“This approach has underpinned the development of Round 5, which is the culmination of years of engagement across governments, environmental bodies, industry and other stakeholders.”
Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Graham Stuart said: “Floating offshore wind is a huge opportunity for Wales and the South West, with the potential to deliver billions of pounds of direct investment whilst bolstering our energy independence and net zero ambitions.
“Together with the Crown Estate I look forward to bringing more capacity online, through our plans to see up to 16GW deployed in the Celtic Sea through the 2030s.”
Chief executive of Renewable UK and co-chair of the Floating Wind Taskforce Dan McGrail added: “Today’s announcement by the Crown Estate represents a major step forward as it will enable us to ramp up our floating wind capacity significantly by deploying full-scale projects for the first time in the Celtic Sea, bringing much-needed jobs, investment and socio-economic opportunities for people in Wales, the south west of England and the rest of the UK.
“It will unlock massive opportunities to build up our floating wind supply chain and to attract billions in investment in new infrastructure by transforming ports into new industrial hubs for floating wind.”
“We are already working closely with the Crown Estate, Crown Estate Scotland and the Offshore Wind Industry Council on an Industrial Growth Plan to boost new offshore wind supply chains throughout the country and enable us to export our cutting-edge technology worldwide.
“This represents a £92bn opportunity for the UK if we can develop our capacity and expertise in a number of key areas – including floating wind.”