Crown Estate refines areas for 4-GW Celtic Sea floating wind leasing round

The Crown Estate is progressing on plans for a seabed leasing tender for floating wind in the Celtic Sea, saying today it has refined the “areas of search” which could host projects to smaller sites.

The tender is expected to deliver 4 GW of floating wind farms by 2035.

The Crown Estate in July published five “areas of search,” which have now been replaced with five smaller areas within Areas 2, 3 and 4. Over the next months, these will be further refined into potential project development areas.

The seabed landlord also provided an update on the design of the tender process ahead of its launch in the middle of 2023. To qualify for the final stage of the tender, developers will need to provide a plan of their investment supporting an internationally competitive supply chain. The agreements for lease will be awared based on the price proposed.

"Recognising the importance of a strong supply chain, we will be asking bidders to submit their supply chain plans as a key part of their bid," said Nicola Clay, head of new ventures marine at the Crown Estate.

As the Crown Estate is looking to accelerate the potential projects it said that work to identify project development areas is being carried out in parallel to the plan-level Habitats Regulations Assessment. The Crown Estate will also perform engineering and environmental surveys in advance of consenting.

Industry group RenewableUK welcomed the update.

“This announcement is a key step forward in the roll-out of innovative floating wind projects in British waters. We particularly welcome the measures to ensure that the UK builds up a strong floating wind supply chain, and The Crown Estate's commitment to speed up the development process by carrying out vital environmental work early, as the industry had proposed,” its chief executive Dan McGrail said.

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