Robert Speht, CEO of Vidi Energy welcomes the announcement from the Crown Estate, stating: “It’s great to see another example of the UK investing in floating wind. This is a fantastic opportunity for UK companies like Vidi Energy to get involved in building out the new floating wind markets that will unlock valuable new clean energy capacity in the Celtic Sea. The UK is once again at the forefront of the floating offshore wind industry, and Vidi Energy is excited and ready to be part of the movement. Exciting times!”

The Crown Estate has announced its first major investment in surveys to support the proposal to unlock valuable new clean energy capacity through floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea. The awarding of the first contracts marks an important step in what is anticipated to be a multi-million pound series of technical & environmental surveys around potential locations for new floating wind farms.

The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed around England, Wales, & Northern Ireland, has set out ambitious plans to deliver an initial 4 GW of energy capacity in the Celtic Sea by 2035, with the region assessed to have the potential to accommodate up to 24 GW by 2045. This would be one of the first uses of new floating wind technology on a commercial scale, with further rapid growth expected as the technology, supply chain, & infrastructure mature.

As well as providing successful bidders with easy access to vital data & speeding up the development process, it is hoped the programme will avoid the need for developers to conduct additional surveys later in the process, while making best use of limited specialist survey resource.

Contracts have now been signed for the initial phase of metocean surveys, which look at wind, wave, & current patterns, to begin in Spring 2023. The Crown Estate is progressing the procurement of the remaining surveys over the coming weeks & months, subject to further commercial discussions.

The Crown Estate is developing its leasing approach for the Celtic Sea floating offshore wind programme through close engagement with other key stakeholders, including but not limited to the UK & Welsh governments & industry, to understand their plans to drive investment in infrastructure, innovation, & skills.

In order to further accelerate the leasing process, the work to identify the final PDAs is being undertaken simultaneously with the plan-level Habitats Regulations Assessment, which assesses the potential impact of leasing plans on the most valuable environmental habitats in the UK, which make up the ‘UK National Network’.

Original article by energyglobal.com