Equinor and Gwynt Glas Secure Leases in Pioneering Celtic Sea Floating Wind Round

Equinor and Gwynt Glas – a joint venture between EDF Renewables UK and ESB – have each secured a 1.5 GW slot in this significant round, which totals 4.5 GW of capacity.

The third PDA is expected to be awarded in September.

All three projects are expected to utilise floating wind technology, due to the deep waters in the Celtic Sea. Once operational, they will bring large-scale clean energy to shore and represent a crucial step forward in advancing commercial floating wind in the UK.

A boost for floating wind leaders

-Great news from UK. The winners are the leaders in floating wind development in Europe and have long experiences and strong capabilities in offshore wind development from several markets, says Alfred Risan, leader of Norwegian Offshore Wind’s working group for the UK and Ireland.

The leasing round is poised to unlock significant investment and industrial activity. For the first three projects alone, estimates suggest up to £19 billion in investment, fabrication and installation of 1,000 anchors, 300 km of mooring lines, and 800 km of array and export cables.

Strategic importance and collaboration

With a combination of strong wind resources, proximity to both industrial and domestic consumers, and a deep industrial and maritime heritage, the Celtic Sea is becoming an increasingly attractive market for offshore wind players – including Norway.

-The Celtic Sea is now emerging as a quite attractive market for us. Norwegian Offshore Wind has built strong cooperation with organisations in the regions, and had earlier this week joint activities with Celtic Sea Power, Welsh Renewables and Marine Energy Wales at Global Offshore Wind. With the great synergies between the organisations members the cooperation will for sure be intensified, says Tor Arne Johnsen, EU advisor for Norwegian Offshore Wind.