The Crown Estate has released new research indicating that the floating offshore wind opportunity in the Celtic Sea could be worth up to £1.4 billion for the UK economy.
The independent study The Celtic Sea Blueprint, conducted by Lumen Energy and Environment, outlines that the supply chain and infrastructure opportunities arising from the development of new floating wind farms off the coast of South Wales and the South West England could also generate up to 5,300 new jobs.
This could be highly beneficial, granting the local regions a skilled workforce for their growing renewable sector.
The study examines the minimum requirements needed to deliver the first three projects outlined by The Crown Estate. It also delves into the gaps, such as ports deep enough for handling the giant turbines, vessels to service the sites, and export cables to transport electricity to land.
In the Celtic Sea, the first three floating offshore wind farms will be able to generate up to 4.5GW of electricity and will be some of the largest in the world, according to The Crown Estate.
As such, the South West and Wales have the potential to be at the forefront of driving this development with opportunities from port infrastructure to significant SME support across the supply chain, the report found.
According to the report, there are significant opportunities for local ports across the region in addition to ways it would utilise its strong shipping expertise to support renewable developments in the region.
Gus Jaspert, managing director of marine at The Crown Estate said: “Floating wind is an incredibly exciting opportunity for the region and the nation. It will boost clean, electricity generation by unlocking the deeper waters of the Celtic Sea not previously accessible by fixed turbines and providing greater access to wind blowing from the west.
“The benefits though are even more wide-ranging, opening up wider local and national opportunities for manufacturers and the supply chain, from cables to platform construction to port development, creating thousands of new jobs and skills.”
The Celtic Sea opportunity
The opportunity in the Celtic Sea continues to gain traction. Current± has reported on several developments in the past year showcasing the growing interest in the region. One of which was a report released by centre of energy expertise Regen.
The conveniently named Go West! report was released in October 2022 in partnership with Magnora Offshore Wind, Morwind, Northland Power and Simply Blue Group. Inside, the organisation outlined how the development of West Coast wind farms would reduce the volatility of energy generation, providing additional benefits for system operation.
With The Crown Estate having made various announcements around offshore wind development in the Celtic Area, it has alerted multiple companies to the region. One such company is the Norwegian state-owned oil and gas giant Equinor, which has greatly influenced the UK wind sector.
In November 2022, the firm expressed interest in developing a gigawatt-scale floating offshore wind farm in the Celtic Sea to increase its renewable energy generation portfolio.
Alongside Equinor, RWE has also expressed its interest in developing commercial-scale floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea, with the company calling the UK a “core market”, something that could see developments on the West Coast sooner rather than later.
