Marine Energy Wales welcomes progress on offshore and floating wind
This morning (14th January), the UK Government announced the Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 7 results.
The results highlight Wales’ continued role in the delivery of offshore wind in both established fixed-bottom projects and the emerging floating offshore wind technology in the Celtic Sea.
What are Contracts for Difference?
The CfD is the UK’s primary mechanism for supporting new large-scale renewable electricity generation. Successful projects receive a long-term contract that provides revenue certainty, enabling investment decisions and project delivery while protecting consumers from price volatility. This year is the first time that offshore wind has been awarded separately to other renewable energy technologies and included both traditional fixed offshore wind, and the newer floating offshore wind technology.
Allocation Round 7 results
Today’s announcement from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero awarded a total capacity of around 8.4 gigawatts (GW), across Welsh, Scottish, and English waters, enough to power millions of homes, and marks the first time in 10 years that a Welsh offshore wind project has secured a CfD.
Offshore Wind in Welsh Waters
Awel y Môr Offshore Wind Farm being developed by RWE, secured a CfD in Allocation Round 7.
Key details include:
- Capacity: 775 megawatts (MW)
- Technology: Fixed-bottom offshore wind
- Location: Welsh waters in the Irish Sea off the north coast of Wales
Fixed-bottom offshore wind is a mature technology, projects of this scale continue to support employment across development, construction, operations and maintenance, with ongoing opportunities for Welsh ports, manufacturing, and wider supply chains.
Floating Offshore Wind Progress
Importantly, Allocation Round 7 also included support for floating offshore wind, a newer technology that allows turbines to operate in deeper waters where traditional foundations are not possible.
The Erebus floating offshore wind test and demonstration project being developed by Blue Gem Wind, located off the Welsh coast, secured a contract for 100 megawatts (MW) of capacity.
Key details include:
- Capacity: 100 megawatts (MW) (~93,000 homes)
- Technology: Floating offshore wind
- Location: Welsh waters in the Celtic Sea, off the southwest coast of Wales
This marks a key milestone for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea, progressing development toward deployment. Early projects such as Erebus play a critical role in developing skills, supply chains and delivery capability, helping to reduce costs over time and prepare the sector for future commercial-scale deployment.
Tom Hill, Programme Manager at Marine Energy Wales, said:
“These results show that Wales is firmly part of the UK’s offshore wind landscape, both through established projects and the next generation of floating offshore wind.”
“The inclusion of a floating offshore wind project in this round is an important early step for the Celtic Sea.”
Looking Ahead
The latest Contracts for Difference results emphasize Wales’ strategic importance to the UK’s offshore wind ambitions, encompassing both fixed-bottom offshore wind projects off the coast of north Wales and the emerging opportunity for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.
Marine Energy Wales will continue to work closely with industry and government to advocate for ongoing, targeted support for deepwater and floating offshore wind in future allocation rounds, recognising its critical role in unlocking projects in the deeper waters of the Celtic Sea. Sustained CfD support, alongside progress on future seabed leasing and support for ports will be essential to enabling floating offshore wind to scale in the Celtic Sea and to maximising long-term economic growth, energy security and decarbonisation benefits for Wales.