The Crown Estate has launched the latest phase of its Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5, aiming to develop a new generation of floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea, off the coasts of South Wales and South West England.
Initially announced in December 2023, these plans mark a significant advancement for the UK’s world-leading offshore wind industry, with the potential to generate up to 4.5 gigawatts of renewable energy—enough to power over 4 million homes.
The development of these wind farms is also expected to create thousands of onshore jobs and attract substantial new investment through the supply chain.Round 5 has also become the first leasing round to be brought to market with an agreed plan for connecting the new windfarms to the UK’s electricity grid, with the Electricity Systems Operator (ESO) today publishing its Celtic Sea network design recommendation.
The second phase of the leasing process, which got underway on 8th August 2024, will see Bidders set out plans for delivering the new wind farms, as well as details on how their plans will support the delivery of wider social and economic benefits for onshore communities. It follows a series of assessments and ongoing surveys by The Crown Estate to ensure any impacts on the marine environment are properly managed.
Research published in February this year by The Crown Estate showed that the supply chain for new Celtic Sea floating wind farms could create more than 5,000 new jobs and deliver a £1.4 billion boost to the economy.
Bidders are being encouraged to be ambitious in developing their proposals, which could include initiatives linked to skills development, apprenticeship opportunities, community impact, sustainable procurement and nature restoration. Bidders will also need to outline how they intend to work with ports in the execution of their plans, identifying both a primary and alternative port that they propose to use for the assembly of the windfarms. These plans will then form contractual obligations as part of the lease agreement for successful bidders.
This latest milestone follows the conclusion of the initial Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) in June 2024. The response from offshore wind developers to this stage demonstrated a clear interest in Round 5, with The Crown Estate able to move forward with a strong pool of Prequalified Bidders, all of whom have demonstrated their suitability to proceed.
New collaboration on grid design
As part of a series of steps to help remove some of the barriers developers can face when progressing plans for offshore wind farms, The Crown Estate has been working closely with ESO to help support the early development of a plan for connecting the new floating turbines to the UK’s energy grid. The ESO has published its Celtic Sea network design recommendation meaning that, for the first time, developers are able to move through the leasing round with an understanding of how their new windfarms will be connected to the grid. It is hoped this model will act as a template for future leasing rounds, helping further accelerate the deployment of offshore wind.
Great British Energy: The Crown Estate
The progress being made on Round 5 comes as the UK Government set out further details (25 July 2024) of Great British Energy, including a new partnership with The Crown Estate to support the accelerated delivery of clean energy infrastructure, benefiting millions of homes and businesses across the country.
The partnership will bring together Great British Energy’s ability to invest and critical strategic industrial policy, with The Crown Estate’s long-established expertise in bringing forward the UK’s world leading offshore wind sector. This will be supported by new legislation recently introduced into Parliament which is intended to give The Crown Estate new investment and borrowing powers, enabling it to play a greater role in supporting offshore wind and other emerging offshore renewable technologies. This includes the establishment of the UK’s floating wind sector and associated supply chain.
This is not only expected to benefit Round 5 projects, but could support any future development, with up to 12GW of further capacity earmarked for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea. Further details on the new partnership are available here.
The leasing process for Round 5 continues in line with the published timetable (set out below), run by The Crown Estate. Later this summer The Crown Estate, is expected to set out its future vision and thinking to build on the global success of the UK’s offshore wind industry.
Gus Jaspert, Managing Director, Marine, at The Crown Estate, said:
“The UK’s offshore wind industry is a global success story, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and contributing billions to the UK economy. As the need for new offshore wind capacity increases, we have challenged ourselves to find ways to accelerate its deployment. This includes a multi-million pound programme of technical and environmental surveys upfront, and our groundbreaking collaboration with the ESO, which means that bidders looking to develop floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea can progress their schemes in the knowledge that there is already a rigorously assessed recommendation for the network needed to connect them to the grid.
“Floating offshore wind presents a new transformative opportunity for the country, the region around the Celtic Sea and the marine environment. We look forward to working with industry, governments and local communities to ensure the potential of this new technology is truly realised.”
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, Ed Miliband, said:
“Floating offshore wind is a world-leading technology that can play a vital role in our efforts to boost energy independence, create good jobs, and tackle the climate crisis.
“Already, The Crown Estate has formed an exciting new partnership with Great British Energy, and this latest leasing round offers even more opportunities to deliver these projects.
“This, combined with over £1.5 billion we’re offering through the next Contracts for Difference auction, will give developers the confidence to deliver here – and help us reach clean power by 2030.”
Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens, said:
“Floating offshore wind represents a golden opportunity for lower energy bills, new jobs and the industries of the future, based right here in Wales.
“This government will establish the UK as a leader in green technologies and increase our energy independence, with Wales playing a leading role.”
First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, said:
“The Celtic Sea floating offshore wind development is an opportunity to transform our communities by providing new investment and jobs as well as supporting our renewable energy targets.
“There are huge opportunities to be seized all along Wales’ coast and, working in partnership with Great British Energy, we are pleased that The Crown Estate will be able to take a more active role on social value and local supply chains to help deliver something truly transformative.”
Dan McGrail, CEO of RenewableUK, said:
“We welcome The Crown Estate’s proactive measures to expedite the speed of offshore wind development, and encourage investment in skills, port infrastructure and new manufacturing to support the growth of the offshore wind sector in the UK. We know from the offshore wind Industrial Growth Plan, published earlier this year, that with a shared effort from industry, Government and key stakeholders like the Crown Estate, there’s an opportunity to grow an offshore wind supply chain which contributes £25bn in GVA to the economy by 2035.
“The development of floating wind is one of the most exciting new chapters in the UK’s renewable energy strategy. By leading the world in the development of new floating foundations, dynamic cables that can move in the water, and specialised operations and maintenance techniques for these innovative new wind farms, supply chain companies in Wales, the South West, and other industry hubs will be well placed to take advantage of the global market for floating wind in years to come. While Leasing Round 5 is set to create 5,000 jobs, experts forecast that with the right support, floating wind could support 40,000 jobs by 2040, many of them in Wales and the South West, serving wind farms in the Celtic Sea.”
