The Crown Estate launches phase two of Celtic Sea wind leasing round

The Crown Estate has launched phase two of its offshore wind leasing Round 5, which aims to develop floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea, coinciding with the release of a new grid connection plan by National Grid ESO in an attempt to de-risk the bidding process.

With the launch of phase two, bidders will now have the opportunity to set out plans for delivering the new floating wind farms, coupled with their plans to support onshore communities and the marine environment.

Besides including plans to boost skills development, sustainable procurement and nature restoration, bidders also need to outline how they intend to work with regional ports to execute their planned projects. A primary and secondary port will need to be identified for use in the assembly of the wind farms.

The Round 5 leasing round is the first to include floating offshore wind and aims to provide power for more than four million homes.

Research suggests that Round 5 and the associated supply chain could create 5300 permanent jobs during the construction phase of the projects and drive up to £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion) of economic activity.

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Wind leasing coupled with novel plan for grid design

According to The Crown Estate, Round 5 is the first leasing round brought to market with an agreed plan for connecting the new wind farms to the UK’s electricity grid.

The plan is outlined in the UK's Electricity Systems Operator (ESO) design recommendation, Beyond 2030: Celtic Sea, which was published to coincide with The Crown Estate's announcement.

As explained in an ESO release, its design will connect up to 4.5GW of floating offshore wind capacity; up to 3GW into two locations in South Wales and up to 1.5GW into the South West of England.

Each of the three proposed offshore wind farms will have its own connection to the onshore electricity network. The proposals are for one high voltage direct current (HVDC) connection into a potential new South Wales Connection Node, and two connections utilising high voltage alternating current (HVAC) technology into Carmarthenshire and North Devon.

ESO's plan aims to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind by removing some of the barriers developers can face and by providing an understanding of how their new wind farms will be connected to the grid.

Also, this new approach to the sequencing will allow developers to make a more informed bid based on the network recommendations, thereby reducing risk.

Gus Jaspert, managing director, marine, at The Crown Estate, said: “As the need for new offshore wind capacity increases, we have challenged ourselves to find ways to accelerate its deployment. This includes a multi-million pound programme of technical and environmental surveys upfront, and our groundbreaking collaboration with the ESO, which means that bidders looking to develop floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea can progress their schemes in the knowledge that there is already a rigorously assessed recommendation for the network needed to connect them to the grid.

“Floating offshore wind presents a new transformative opportunity for the country, the region around the Celtic Sea and the marine environment. We look forward to working with industry, governments and local communities to ensure the potential of this new technology is truly realised.”