TotalEnergies and Simply Blue Group have secured planning consent for the 100MW Erebus floating offshore wind farm in the Celtic Sea, the first of its kind off the coast of Wales.
A s36 application for the project has been approved with conditions, according to the Welsh Government planning website.
The decision is a milestone for the project, which becomes the largest floating wind farm to secure full planning consent in the UK to date.
It comes after the developers were granted a marine licence by Natural Resources Wales late last month to build an array of up to seven 14MW turbines housed on semi-submersible floating platforms 35km southwest of Pembrokeshire.
The latest planning decision will allow the joint venture, known as Blue Gem Wind, to bid the floating wind farm into the UK’s next Contract for Difference (CfD) round.
Projects have until the end of the month to qualify for the auction, which is due to be held later this summer. A reference price for floating wind has been set at £116 per megawatt-hour for the 2026/27 and 2027/28 delivery years.
Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford has today urged the UK government to “do its part” through the CfD process to drive the industry forward by working with the Erebus team.
He said: “We are ambitious for the floating offshore wind sector in Wales – we believe it has the potential to deliver sustainable sources of energy into the future and it is also a once-in-a-generation opportunity to open up new markets for local suppliers and to create thousands of high-quality jobs in Wales.
“The Erebus project has the potential to show the world that Wales and the Celtic Sea can deliver renewable energy alongside the sustainable management of our marine resources. In determining the marine license and the planning consents, the Welsh Government and our partners in Natural Resources Wales have enabled this project to move forward to apply for subsidy support from the UK Government.”
Mike Scott, project managing director at Blue Gem Wind, added: “We welcome the decision from Welsh Ministers to grant the necessary planning consents for project Erebus and have been working with Planning and Environment Decisions Wales and other key stakeholders since 2019 to develop a project that is sympathetic to the natural environment and minimises impacts to local communities and stakeholders.
“Erebus, which will be the first floating wind farm in Wales, will play a crucial role in advancing the deployment of what will become a globally important low carbon technology.”