The UK Crown Estate plans to lease a large area of the Celtic Sea to floating offshore wind power projects.
Britain’s Crown Estate, which manages the UK sovereign’s “public” lands is preparing to lease a large area in the Celtic Sea to a floating offshore wind generation project. The lease area will be three time larger than any previous lease and a total of six projects are planned with a generation capacity of 300MW each.
“The Crown Estate is creating an exciting opportunity for renewable energy developers in the Celtic Sea, which will help the UK to maintain its global lead in floating wind,” said RenewableUK’s Head of Policy and Regulation, Rebecca Williams. “There is a huge appetite within the industry to deploy this innovative technology. Floating wind is essential for the UK to reach its legally-binding net zero emissions target by 2050 – we can’t get there without it.”
The new lease follows consultation within the wind power industry which found strong interest in new floating wind generation rights in the Celtic Sea and beyond.
Huub den Rooijien, Director of the Crown Estate’s Energy, Minerals, and Infrastructure portfolio said he views offshore wind as the next frontier of the Uk’s clean energy ambitions.