The crown estate, which generates money for the Treasury and the royal family, has published five “search areas” to be narrowed down to development plots to accommodate wind power generation. Once the project development areas are agreed, they will be offered to businesses through a competitive bidding process, which is expected to start in mid-2023. The Crown Estate hopes these areas will deliver 4 gigawatts of floating offshore wind by 2035, powering nearly 4 million homes. Sites in the Celtic Sea have been identified as possibilities for floating wind farms Offshore wind farms are usually built on the seabed near the coast. The structures that could be accommodated in the Celtic Sea allow turbines to be installed on floating platforms made of concrete and steel, which are anchored to the seabed using flexible anchors or cables and sit just above or below the waterline. The innovation means they can be located in deeper water, generating less opposition from local residents and onshore businesses who dislike the presence of wind turbines for aesthetic reasons. It also means the structures benefit from stronger winds and are less likely to collide with fishing fleets or disrupt bird nesting sites and naval bases. The Crown Estate said it had identified the search areas by studying various factors including “shipping routes, fishing activity and environmental sensitivities”. The wind farms would not be visible from land except for a possible site north of the Isles of Scilly, he said. At a stakeholder meeting earlier this year, concerns were raised about whether the floating wind farms would cause problems for fishing gear on boats fishing for crab and lobster in the area. There have also been calls to extend the size of buffer zones between farms and nearby boats. Wind farms could also be co-located with carbon capture and storage systems or coordinate activities with telecommunications cabling projects, the stakeholders said. Last month, the crown estate said a record auction of land for offshore wind farms had pushed the value of its shipping business up 22% from last year to £5bn. Independent of its Celtic Sea ambitions, the estate has granted licenses for six offshore wind farms off the coast of England and Wales which could generate up to £9 billion over the next 10 years. The winners were Germany’s RWE Renewables and a consortium, which includes oil company BP. Profits for the crown estate rose by £43.4m to £312.7m in the year to the end of March. The estate hands over all of its profits to the Treasury before 25% is returned to the royal household in the form of the state grant, a funding formula that is under government review. The grant was increased in 2017 from the previous level of 15% to pay for extensive renovations at Buckingham Palace. Subscribe to the Business Today daily email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter @BusinessDesk Huub den Rooijen, the crown estate’s managing director of shipping, said: “The Celtic Sea has the potential to become one of the world’s great renewable energy basins, bringing economic growth and an abundance of clean energy.” Energy Secretary Greg Hunts said: “We already have the largest offshore wind development in Europe. Floating technology is the key to unlocking the full potential of our coastline.” Earlier this year, the Scottish arm of the crown estate auctioned off sea space in 17 projects, with most of the capacity earmarked for offshore wind. The first floating offshore wind farm has been operating off Scotland since 2017.
