Government greenlight clears TotalEnergies-led Welsh floating wind flagship for 2026 start-up
Blue Gem Wind consortium's 96MW Erebus project to lead off first phase of multi-gigascale offshore clean energy ambition in UK's Celtic Sea
The Welsh government has granted consent for the country’s first floating wind farm, the 96MW Erebus being developed in the UK Celtic Sea by TotalEnergies and Simply Blue under the Blue Gem Wind banner.
The project, sited in 75 metres of water some 40km off the coast of Pembrokeshire, will be built around seven as-yet-unspecified 14 megawatt turbines mated to semisubmersible steel hulls being supplied by Principle Power, with the array set to generate enough power for almost 100,000 homes once brought online in 2026.
“We are ambitious for the floating wind sector in Wales – we believe it has the potential to deliver sustainable sources of energy into the future and it is also a once-in-a-generation opportunity to open up new markets for local suppliers and to create thousands of high-quality jobs in Wales,” said Wales’ first minister Mark Drakeford.
“The Erebus project has the potential to show the world that Wales and the Celtic Sea can deliver renewable energy alongside the sustainable management of our marine resources.”
Blue Gem project managing director Mike Scott said: “We welcome the decision from Welsh ministers to grant the necessary planning consents for project Erebus and have been working with Planning and Environment Decisions Wales and other key stakeholders since 2019 to develop a project that is sympathetic to the natural environment and minimises impacts to local communities and stakeholders.
“Erebus, which will be the first floating wind farm in Wales, will play a crucial role in advancing the deployment of what will become a globally important low carbon technology.”
Blue Gem Wind won the rights to develop the Erebus in 2020 and has since worked with contractors OWC, MarineSpace, ITPEnergised, and Burges Salmon on the environmental impact assessment process for project.
The UK government wants to bring 4GW of floating wind projects off southwest England and Wales via a tender later this year, as the first phase of a longer-view plant to have 24GW of deepwater arrays operating in the Celtic Sea by 2045, creating a $60bn economy and tens of thousands of jobs.
Several other demonstrator developments have moved forward in the offshore province, including three 100MW floating wind pilots, Whitecross off the coast of southwest England and Llŷr 1 and 2 off Wales, as well as the 40MW TwinHub being built by Hexicon and Bechtel, which secured the first-ever UK Contract for Difference (CfD) for a floating project last July.
Most recently, new-model offshore wind developer Corio Generation expanded its international portfolio ambitions with plans to bid to build floating arrays in the Celtic Sea with specialist outfit Morwind.
Westminster set a national offshore wind target in April 2021 that has the goal of having 50GW of offshore wind turning by 2030.
Drakeford said: “In determining the marine license and the planning consents, the Welsh government and our partners in Natural Resources Wales have enabled this project to move forward to apply for subsidy support from the UK government.
“I urge the UK government to do its part through the CfD process to drive the industry forward by working with the Erebus team to secure the first floating offshore wind project in Welsh waters, bringing jobs and green energy to our communities.”
International energy consultancy giant DNV calculates floating wind projects currently make up over 15% of the total offshore wind deployment in the pipeline worldwide slated for switch-on by mid-century, some 264GW of the 1.75TW in line to be installed.