Equinor and Gwynt Glas, a joint venture between EDF Renewables UK and ESB, have secured seabed leases to develop floating wind farms off the coasts of Wales and South West England in Celtic Sea.
The announcement was shared by the Crown Estate, which acts as the manager of the seabed in U.K., which will partner with the companies drive the creation of new jobs and economic growth from the floating wind farms in the area.
Equnior and Gwynt Glas both won leases, obtaining the rights to build 1.5 GW floating wind projects each. The companies will pay 470 $ per MW (350 £ per MW) a year as fees for the leases, Crown Estate said.
The news follows a process to award rights to deliver up to 4.5 GW of secure, renewable energy, enough to power more than four million homes. The Crown Estate will ensure the delivery of the full potential capacity through the deployment of a third site.
Work is underway on a range of options to deliver this, and The Crown Estate expects to set out next steps by the end of September 2025.
The new wind farms will be among the largest of their kind in the world, underlining the U.K.’s position as the leading market for floating offshore wind in Europe and expected to lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs and more than a billion-pound investment in the UK economy.
This is expected to be the first phase of a new industry in the Celtic Sea, with The Crown Estate identifying the potential for a further 4-10 GW to be brought to market by the end of the decade.
“ESB, in partnership with our colleagues in EDFR, is delighted to have been successful in The Crown Estate Round 5 seabed allocation in the Celtic Sea.
“The Celtic Sea is of strategic importance to ESB given its location adjacent to Ireland and the opportunities to develop a floating offshore project in what we believe to be an ideal area bodes well for our ambitions to develop a portfolio of floating offshore wind projects in Ireland and U.K. to contribute to the net zero plans for both countries as well as those of ESB,” said Jim Dollard, Executive Director at ESB.
“We are delighted to be given this opportunity in the Celtic Sea. The U.K. is a core strategic market for Equinor and a market where we have more than a decade’s experience in offshore wind. The seabed lease offers the scalability and timing flexibility we seek and is a long-term option for Equinor’s renewables portfolio.
“We believe that the deeper waters in the Celtic Sea have good future potential for floating wind which will play an important role in unlocking the U.K.’s journey towards net zero,” added Trine Borum Bojsen, Senior Vice President for Renewables Europe of Equinor.