FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND IN THE CELTIC SEA

In July 2022, the Crown Estate announced five areas of search for commercial-scale floating offshore wind development in the Celtic Sea.

The Crown Estate informed the CFPO that these areas will initially be refined down to 10-15% of the size of the search areas. The map below shows the five initial areas of search, which have since been refined following a series of meetings between The Crown Estate and the fishing industry. 

The new refined areas, informed by inputs from the first round of meetings, have been published and are shown by the maps below. There has been recognition of industry input, but there are still some concerns.

There will be another round of industry workshops taking place in Newlyn and Padstow on Thursday 27th October, details below. This will be an opportunity to ask questions about the refined sites and raise any concerns you may have. If you believe that you could be affected by development in these areas, we would like to invite you to attend. 

Thursday 27th October – Newlyn – Seafood Cornwall Training Hub – 10am – 12pm

Thursday 27th October – Padstow – Memorial Hall – 3pm – 5pm

Please contact the CFPO office for more information. Email chris@cfpo.org.uk or phone 01736 351050.

MAP OF SEARCH AREAS

THE CROWN ESTATE’S OFFSHORE WIND VISION

 

Floating offshore wind represents the next step in the UK’s ambitions to reach net-zero by 2050 and The Crown Estate has identified the Celtic Sea as a key piece of this puzzle.

The Crown Estate has published its plans for floating wind in the Celtic Sea, identifying five broad ‘Areas of Search’ (see map above), which are intended to deliver 4GW of power by 2035, and potentially another 20GW by 2045.

The Crown Estate has already begun ongoing stakeholder engagement, by inviting views of their plan and the potential positive and negative impacts on the supply chain, fishing industry, ports, and energy grid.

There have been concerns raised around the potential displacement of fishing activity by floating offshore wind, especially vessels fishing species such as crab and lobster that are concentrated in small geographical areas. Concerns have also been raised about fishing safety, and the potential of floating offshore wind and associated infrastructure interfering with fishing equipment.

The Crown Estate will soon begin searching for potential sites for new wind farms but ahead of any site decisions, they are visiting Cornwall and are keen to build positive relationships with the industry and coastal communities, in order to minimise potential impacts on the fishing industry.

Learn more about offshore wind farms via The Crown Estate website, and contact the CFPO office to find out how you can get involved and influence the final locations of these sites.

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