A Celtic Sea Powerhouse

Conference notes:

A. Economies of scale are rapidly driving down costs for offshore wind making it competitive with other forms of power generation.

B. Offshore wind turbines operate on an average of 60% capacity compared to a 40% average for onshore wind.

C. The offshore wind industry offers a potential to help revive local economies in coastal communities.

D. Offshore wind is vital not only to reduce our carbon emissions and tackle climate change, but also to ensure energy security and reduce our dependence on fossil fuel dictatorships like Russia.

E. The UK has an added advantage of being the first country to open up seabed for large floating projects.

F. The Crown Estate Estimates the Celtic Sea has the economic potential to accommodate up to an additional 20GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2045 with the potential to create some 10,000 jobs.

G. The process for securing permits to set up offshore wind farms is currently too complicated and can take up to a decade to secure.

H. The proposed hydrogen generation projects in South West Wales, including a potential for the steel industry to run on green hydrogen, will need large amounts of renewable energy to fuel the production process and that offshore wind in South West Wales can help fuel this demand.

I. Access to cheap, abundant renewable energy could also allow Wales to become a leading centre for the data industry. Currently Ireland is Europe’s leading data storage and processing centre, but the industry is using 17% of the country’s power and in order to reduce demand Ireland will no longer supply electricity to new sever farms. An abundance of cheap renewable power would allow Wales to potentially attract some of these businesses and the high-skilled jobs and investment that come with it.

J. So far the UK and Welsh Government has been unsuccessful in terms of encouraging the construction of wind turbines in Wales with no production plants located in Wales and only one production plant located in the UK.

K. Management of the Crown Estate in Wales is reserved to Westminster, while in Scotland management of the Crown Estate has been devolved to Scottish Government since 2017.

Conference Believes:

i. The Celtic Sea possesses the opportunity to become a powerhouse in renewable energy generation.

ii. This renewable energy generation can also support the growth of other industries in our coastal communities including green hydrogen, green steel, EV and battery manufacturing and data centres.

iii. Decarbonisation goals should be considered when planning grid infrastructure.

iv. More efforts should be made to produce wind turbines within Wales taking advantage of the industrial infrastructure already in place in Wales.

v. Greater efforts are needed by both the UK and Welsh Government to secure investment in offshore wind in Wales.

vi. Unless efforts are ramped up Wales may lose out on investment to areas in Scotland and bordering the North Sea.

vii. Investment is also needed in skills and training to prepare the local supply chain and enable it to be an active player in the global build-out of floating wind.

viii. The Crown Estate should be devolved to Wales, ensuring the profit from offshore wind energy lease agreements (currently worth an estimated £1 billion) stays in Wales.

Conference Calls for:

1. The Welsh and UK Government to work together to encourage the establishment of manufacturing facilities in Wales for large components, such as major turbine components and foundations, alongside steel fabrications, turbine towers and transition pieces.

2. A clear strategy to be outlined by the Welsh Government to attract industries associated to cheap renewable power such as the green hydrogen industry and data industry to Wales.

3. The UK Government to set out ambitious and long-term targets on offshore wind in the Celtic Sea beyond 2030 ahead of the conclusion of the upcoming leasing round.

4. The Welsh Government to cut consenting and licensing processing times for offshore floating wind proposals to one year, following similar moves in England and Scotland.

5. Greater co-investment by the Welsh Government in infrastructure upgrades and provision of greater support to Welsh SMEs to help to boost Welsh interest in the offshore wind sector.

6. The UK Government to legislate for the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales.