Equinor and EDF-ESB win UK Celtic Sea floating wind leases
Norwegian giant and utility JV to develop 1.5GW each while third area still to be allocated
Equinor and a joint venture between utilities EDF and ESB were today named winners of the UK’s round for floating wind leases off southwest England and Wales.
UK seabed landlord the Crown Estate said Norwegian energy giant Equinor and the French-Irish joint venture, called Gwynt Glas, each secured areas to develop 1.5GW of floating wind.
Both successful bidders in the Crown Estate’s Round 5, also known as the Celtic Sea round, will pay £350 ($469) per MW annually, or £525,000 in total, in option fees for the leases.
Round 5 was run with a view to allocating 4.5GW. The Crown Estate said it is still working to allocate a third 1.5GW area and said it expects to announce more details after September.
The Celtic Sea round is seen as pivotal to the UK’s plans to establish a world-leading position in floating wind and create new infrastructure to support offshore wind off the western seaboard of the country.
The two successful bidders are likely to use the ports of Port Talbot and Bristol as the likely locations for final assembly of their floaters said the Crown Estate.
Jim Dollard, executive director at ESB, said: “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 UK to contribute to the net zero plans for both countries as well as those of ESB.”
Equinor's Europe renewables chief Trine Borum Bojsen added: "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 UK’s journey towards net zero.”