A new Celtic Sea Cluster has been set up to accelerate offshore wind and with the aim of delivering over £43bn in UK gross value add (GVA) by 2050.
The cluster is led by the Welsh Government and Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, supported by Marine Energy Wales, Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult and Celtic Sea Power.
The initiative has acknowledged the need for a coordinated regional approach between Wales and Cornwall to harness their respective supply chain strengths.
Cluster members will include developers and supply chain companies with an interest in floating wind in the Celtic Sea.
The Celtic Sea Cluster has estimated offshore wind can create more than 29,000 UK jobs and deliver £43.6bn in UK gross value add by 2050, as well as boost industry in Wales and south-west England.
The Celtic Sea Cluster aims to accelerate floating wind between the coasts of Cornwall, Wales and Ireland.
The cluster will work to “tackle barriers to the pace of development, identify key enabling infrastructure, and provide support for the emerging supply chain”.
With the UK setting a target of 40GW of offshore wind by 2030, the ambition is at least 1GW will come from floating wind.
Developments already underway include Simply Blue Energy partnering with TotalEnergies to develop the 96MW Erebus and 100MW Valorous sites off the south coast of Wales and with Shell to develop the 1GW Emerald project off the south coast of Ireland.
Meanwhile, Hexicon has partnered with Bechtel to develop a 30MW array on the wave hub site off the north coast of Cornwall.
The Crown Estate, which acts as manager of the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has already announced that it is commencing work to design and deliver a new leasing opportunity for early commercial-scale floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea.
The leasing process will focus on projects of circa 300MW in scale.
Cluster chairman Stephen Wyatt, from ORE Catapult, said: “By drawing together all of the major stakeholders under one roof, and our twinning with the Celtic Sea Developers Alliance, we believe we have all the right ingredients to accelerate the pace of development and make the Celtic Sea the easiest place in the UK to develop Floating wind.
“The Cluster will work hard for industry to remove barriers to deployment, and maximise the supply chain opportunity, particularly for local companies, and ultimately achieve the UK content ambitions of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal.”
First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford said: “Wales has the industrial capability to provide the manufacturing engine room for Celtic Sea developers.
“The Cluster will enable more coherent conversations to understand requirements and accelerate delivery.”