Celtic Sea Blueprint

The development of 4.5 GW of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea represents a significant economic opportunity for Wales and the South West of England to build on existing capabilities and develop new industries.

Background

BiGGAR Economics worked with Lumen and Everoze to consider the minimum infrastructure and supply chain requirements to support the Celtic Sea Floating Round, focusing on three projects with a combined capacity of 4.5 GW. This report was published by the Crown Estate in February 2024.

Findings

The study identified opportunities for the region from the assembly of the large floating platforms needed to house the turbines, building on the existing local high-skilled welding and concrete expertise and existing local suppliers. It highlighted opportunities for local ports across the region from the assembly, transport and storage of parts during the construction and life-cycle of the sites, while the region’s strong shipping expertise could also be of benefit during the development stages.

BiGGAR Economics considered the potential employment and Gross Value Added that could be generated by this activity. Our analysis found that:

  • projects that used concrete foundations are likely to have a higher economic impact than those based on steel, and would support around 500 more jobs;
  • three floating 1.5 GW projects could support 5,300 jobs during their development and construction; and
  • this would generate £1.4 billion GVA for the UK economy.

The impact of each project is shown in the table below, based on a scenario of two projects that use a steel foundation (RP01) and one that uses concrete (RP02).

Further Reading

More inforamtion on this project can be found on the links below:

Posted 26.02.24

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