The UK Crown Estate has raised the overall capacity on offer for the planned floating offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea from the previously announced 4GW to 4.5GW, under Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5.
The wind farms will be located offshore Wales and south-west England.
The new round is expected to be the first phase of development in the Celtic Sea and will include three project development areas (PDAs) of nearly equal size, to be made available to bidders. Four PDAs of varying sizes had previously been announced.
Each bidder will be able to secure a lease agreement for not more than one PDA. This will result in three equal-sized PDAs, each with a capacity of up to 1.5GW.
The total capacity of 4.5GW of clean energy will be enough to power four million UK homes.
The latest update follows feedback from industry and other stakeholders. The new design claims to optimise seabed use and offer developers greater flexibility in each area.
This establishes a foundation to establish a floating offshore wind industry in the Celtic Sea.
Alongside providing information on the location and size of the new wind farms, the update has given developers details of marine survey programmes.
These studies offer them vital data, help them to make informed decisions and reduce risks at an early stage.
In September 2023, specifically equipped aircraft were deployed to collect data on sea birds and marine mammals around the project site.
Data from the surveys will be published in October 2023, offering a complete picture of the Celtic Sea.
Crown Estate marine managing director Gus Jaspert stated: “At its heart, the Crown Estate exists to create value both now and for future generations, whether that is helping tackle climate change and nature recovery or enabling economic growth.
“Through our role in managing the seabed, we want to catalyse the transition to net zero in the right way – driving the continued growth of new renewable technology such as floating offshore wind, while ensuring we support a thriving marine environment and create new social and economic opportunities.”
