The Crown Estate has increased the overall capacity of the planned floating offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea. The authority has refined its plans ahead of its upcoming offshore wind leasing round 5 next year.
Following market feedback from developers, the Crown Estate will offer three project development areas (PDA) of equal size to bidders, rather than four project sizes of varying sizes off the Pembrokeshire coast and the south west of England. The three PDAs will each have the potential capacity of up to 1.5GW, increasing the overall capacity from 4GW to 4.5GW - enough to power over more than 4 million homes, said the Crown Estate.
It added that the updated locations will give developers greater flexibility by providing more space in each of the three areas. However, no bidder will be able to secure an agreement to lease more than one PDA.
Read more: Welsh Water wants to increase average bills by 26% to fund huge investment
The offshore wind leasing round 5 next year will be the first phase of development in the Celtic Sea. An Information Memorandum is expected to be published before the end of this year ahead of the formal start of the leasing round.
As well as supporting the 海角视频’s transition away from fossil fuels, the Crown Estate said the leasing round will also be used to drive broader social and economic value. This includes requiring developers to set out specific commitments to ports, as well as establishing binding commitments on wider issues such as enhancing skills, addressing environmental impacts, and delivering community benefits as part of the leasing process.
Renewable海角视频 Cymru director Jess Hooper said the industry understood some of the rationale behind the decision to roll back from four to three sites. “In pursuing a smaller number of projects there will be fewer buffers and greater flexibility on spacing, which will help get them through planning,” she said.
“Undoubtedly though, it will cause some frustration amongst developers that were anticipating they could bid and win two sites because they will have attributed certain economies of scale, increased opportunities for supply chain engagement and negotiations with the ports. That is no longer possible as The Crown Estate is committed to maintaining a minimum of three winners.
Most Read
“The reasoning behind this is to avoid an unfair monopoly and stimulate more competition that will benefit our supply chain companies and ports.”
In terms of the decision to increase the capacity from 4GW to 4.5GW, Ms Hooper said: “I don't think that it's necessarily a target of 4.5GW, more of a ceiling that allows developers to be more ambitious within that area. Whether or not the extra capacity is achievable remains to be seen. It will be subject to assessment of factors, including the spatial scenarios and wake effects, as these will impact on yield.”
She added: “We welcome the move to inform the grid now of that extra capacity as it allows the scenarios the National Grid are running to progress. We know in terms of infrastructure upgrades, the grid tends to have one of the longest lead times, so this is a positive step forward.”
Gus Jaspert, managing director of marine at The Crown Estate, said: “At its heart, The Crown Estate exists to create value both now and for future generations, whether that’s 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.
“Round 5 is set to be one of the biggest projects of its kind in the world, and will be a game changer for the 海角视频’s energy security and net zero ambitions. It also stands to be transformative for communities across South Wales and South West England. Businesses and communities of all sizes stand to benefit from the opportunities on offer, but it will require ongoing collaboration to make these a reality. We will continue to work closely with governments, industry partners and our full range of stakeholders to drive the partnerships needed to truly realise the full potential of floating wind in the Celtic Sea.”
In addition to the changes to the location and size of the new wind farms, the authority also provided an update on its multi-million-pound programme of marine surveys. The studies are designed to provide developers with vital data to help inform their decision making and de-risk projects at an early stage, as well as support winning bidders through the consenting process.
The latest phase of this work started on 24th September, with specially-equipped aeroplanes taking to the skies to gather data on the seabirds and marine mammals around the project sites and more widely in the Celtic Sea.
This follows the award of a contract to leading aerial surveyors HiDef for a two-year programme. Developers have also now been told that comprehensive technical specifications for the whole programme of surveys will be published later this month, giving a complete picture of the data that will eventually be available.