Floating windfarms could be hosted off Cornwall and Wales, crown estate says
Floating windfarms could be built off the coasts of Cornwall and Pembrokeshire after the Queen’s property manager identified a clutch of sites in the Celtic Sea that could host them.
The crown estate, which generates money for the Treasury and the royal family, has published five “areas of search” that will be narrowed into development plots to host wind power generation.
Once the project development areas have been agreed, they will be offered to businesses through a tender process, which is due to be launched in mid-2023.
The crown estate hopes these areas will deliver 4 gigawatts of floating offshore wind power by 2035, fuelling almost 4m homes.
Offshore windfarms are typically built in the seabed close to the shore. The structures that could be hosted in the Celtic Sea allow turbines to be installed on floating concrete and steel platforms, 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, creating less opposition from local residents and businesses onshore who dislike the presence of wind turbines on aesthetic grounds. It also means the structures benefit from stronger winds and are less likely to cause conflict with fishing fleets, or disruption to birds’ nesting grounds and naval bases.
The crown estate said it had identified the areas of search by studying various factors including “navigation routes, fisheries activity and environmental sensitivities”. The windfarms will not be visible from land apart from one potential site north of the Isles of Scilly, it said.
In a meeting with interested parties earlier this year, concerns were raised over whether the floating windfarms would cause problems for
Read more on theguardian.com
