The development of floating offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea has reached a major milestone, as The Crown Estate confirmed the final stage of its leasing round for three sites off the coasts of Wales and South West England.
This marks a significant step towards delivering up to 4.5GW of renewable energy – enough to power over four million homes – while generating over 5,000 jobs and contributing £1.4 billion to the UK economy.
The leasing process, known as Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5, has now moved into its concluding phase. Successful bidders from the initial tender (ITT Stage 1) will take part in a final auction this spring, with lease agreements due to be signed in the summer. In addition to energy generation plans, bidders have submitted proposals to support local job creation, port development, and economic regeneration.
As part of their submissions, shortlisted bidders identified a number of ports that could play a role in the assembly and deployment of turbines – particularly as integration ports, where turbines will be installed on large floating platforms. The ports put forward are (from north to south):
- Pembroke Port (Celtic Freeport / Port of Milford Haven)
- Port of Swansea
- Port Talbot (Celtic Freeport)
- Port of Bristol
- Port of Plymouth
- Falmouth Port
- Port of Brest (France).
Among these, Port Talbot and the Port of Bristol have emerged as strong candidates to play a central role in supporting the Round 5 projects.
The floating turbines, potentially reaching heights of 300 metres (comparable to The Shard), represent a transformative leap in renewable energy infrastructure. The Crown Estate has also invested in marine surveys and early grid planning to help reduce development risks.
This leasing round is the first phase of a broader vision to unlock up to 12GW of wind energy potential in the Celtic Sea by 2030, part of a UK-wide target of 20–30GW from offshore wind.
Luciana Ciubotariu, CEO of Celtic Freeport: “Today’s announcement by The Crown Estate is a major boost for the Celtic Freeport. The use of Pembroke Port and Port Talbot to deliver these Celtic Sea projects will accelerate our mission to become a leading hub for floating offshore wind. This milestone brings us closer to unlocking thousands of jobs and attracting vital investment to the region.”
