Feritech Global is delighted to see the Crown Estate proposals announced this week for floating offshore wind leasing in the Celtic Sea.
The Crown Estate aims to unlock up to 4GW of capacity in England and Wales and help establish a new industrial sector.
This is an exciting step forward towards realising the vision of an important floating offshore wind sector in the Celtic Sea.
The plans from the Crown Estate include a focus on two key project categories: early commercial-scale projects of 300-350MW and full commercial-scale projects of up to 1GW. The leasing process could see rights awarded by the end of 2023, with projects delivered from 2030 into the early part of the next decade.
Rob Ferris, MD of Feritech Global, says: “Our new Innovation Centre near Falmouth has partly been built to help deliver the engineering innovation that will be needed to support the emerging industry. We are looking forward to becoming a leading player in the supply chain for floating offshore wind, working in collaboration with many of the other superb engineering companies in Cornwall.
“So it is great to see that included in the Crown Estate proposals are details of leasing “designed at a pace and scale” to support supply chain and infrastructure development, helping to underpin a sustainable future for the sector, and ensure the South West, Wales and the wider UK benefit from the industrial opportunity.”
The Crown Estate will also work with the electricity system operator and others to support a coordinated grid solution for floating wind projects, in line with the work underway through the Offshore Transmission Network Review, to accelerate grid development and mitigate impacts on communities onshore.
Crown Estate marine managing director Huub den Rooijen said: “Floating wind technology offers a powerful opportunity to open up the renewable energy resources of the Celtic Sea, helping to tackle the climate crisis with additional clean power and ignite a new industrial sector. We are focused on realising this potential in a way that supports the development of the regional supply chain and infrastructure, protects our marine environment, and harnesses the opportunity for local communities.”
The full Crown Estate report can be seen here: