Sweden's Hexicon buys consented Celtic Sea site for floating wind demo

Swedish floating wind outfit Hexicon has finalised the purchase of the Wave Hub renewables test site off Cornwall, South West England, that it plans to turn into a 30-MW-40-MW floating offshore wind farm using its twin-turbine foundation, it was announced on Friday.

Through its UK subsidiary, TwinHub Ltd, the company bought the assets of Wave Hub Ltd for GBP 2.4 million (USD 3.4m/EUR 2.8m) from Cornwall Council. The assets include a 30-MW grid connection, which can be boosted to 40 MW, a four-way seabed hub and four inter-array cables, an onshore substation and related land, consent for over 8 square kilometres (3.09 sq miles) of sea, and a 25-year seabed lease option from the Crown Estate.

TwinHub will use the site to deploy the floating demonstrator project, estimated to be worth over GBP 100 million, in the Celtic Sea by 2025.

The acquisition was first announced in May.

“This deal brings a major international inward investor to Cornwall and is the first step in our ambition to bring commercial-scale offshore floating wind energy to the Celtic Sea,” said Steve Jermy, chair and interim chief executive of Cornwall Council’s offshore renewable energy company Celtic Sea Power.

The Crown Estate last week announced that 300 MW of new floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea have been approved to progress to the next stage of assessment as part of the seabed management entity’s Test & Demonstration leasing opportunity.

Celtic Sea Power said these developments make the Celtic Sea a key location for floating wind. The UK aims to install 1 GW of floating wind capacity by 2030.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.397/EUR 1.175)

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