The Crown Estate, an independent commercial business that manages the monarchy’s public estate, has granted an additional 4.7GW of offshore wind generation capacity in and around England and Wales.
This increase in capacity will be provided through the Capacity Increase Programme, which aims to maximise the potential of existing offshore wind lease areas.
Seven fixed-bottom offshore wind sites have been selected and granted permission to amend and increase their seabed rights. These include sites awarded rights in either The Crown Estate’s Offshore Wind Leasing Round 3 or The Crown Estate’s 2017 Offshore Wind Extensions opportunity.
All seven projects have existing grid connections and infrastructure, enabling swift deployment and are within pre-established offshore wind sites.
According to The Crown Estate, the seven projects to be expanded upon are Awel y Môr, Dudgeon Extension, Sheringham Shoal Extension, North Falls, Five Estuaries, Rampion 2 and Dogger Bank D.
The new expanded capacity of each of these sites has not been disclosed. However, the current renewable energy generation capacity of each project stands at 1.1GW, 402MW, 317MW, 504MW, 353MW, 1.2GW, and 2GW, respectively.
Gus Jaspert, managing director, marine at The Crown Estate, emphasised that the organisation is attempting to drive economic growth for the country through renewable energy.
“Delivering the Capacity Increase Programme is an effective way to provide up to four million homes with secure, clean energy and further decrease the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels, often sourced internationally,” Jaspert said.
“Balancing the needs of energy and nature is an important responsibility we carefully consider, and we’re confident in the environmental compensation measures which will accompany the delivery of the programme.
“As we look to the future, our leading and collaborative Marine Delivery Routemap will be well-placed to support prioritisation decisions and avoid nature impacts as much as possible.”
Last month, The Crown Estate announced that Offshore Leasing Round 5, launched in February 2024, reached its final stage, bringing the prospect of three new floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea closer.
Once built, the three floating wind farms are expected to have a combined capacity of up to 4.5GW. Turbines up to 300 meters tall will sit on floating platforms roughly the size of a football pitch.
Research published last year by the Crown Estate indicated that developing floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea could add as much as £1.4 billion to the UK economy while also creating up to 5,300 new jobs in South Wales and the southwest of England.
