Key role for HR Wallingford in Celtic Sea wind farm development

By Nicky Godding

20 October 2022

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A new industry partnership is set to support the UK’s floating wind industry by identifying offshore storage areas for wind turbines awaiting installation in the Celtic Sea. The project, TS-Flow© JIP, led by Offshore Solutions Group and delivered in partnership with Oxfordshire-based HR Wallingford, will keep supply chains moving by freeing up space on quaysides and inner-harbours for assembling turbines.

Five areas in the Celtic Sea have recently been released for floating wind farm developments in a bid to reach the UK government’s target of generating up to 5GW of floating wind by 2030. This will have major impacts on infrastructure in the region, and it is vital that ports are optimised to provide local delivery for the construction, assembly, and installation of new wind farms. How and where to store turbines that have already been assembled is key to this effort.

The TS-Flow© JIP brings together developers, port authorities, installers and other parties working in the Celtic Sea for the first time. The first phase of the initiative will be a technical assessment and will identify potential locations, an outline of the required permitting framework, technical constraints, and practical considerations. Subsequent phases will explore how to transform potential sites into usable locations.

The TS-Flow© JIP brings together developers, port authorities, installers and other parties working in the Celtic Sea for the first time. The first phase of the initiative will be a technical assessment and will identify an initial set of potential locations, an outline of the required permitting framework, technical constraints, and practical considerations. Subsequent phases will explore how to transform potential sites into usable locations.

Will Rowley, group CEO at Offshore Solutions Group, said: “This joint industry partnership is recognition of the need for advanced planning and technical solutions by the floating wind industry to support large-scale local delivery of floating wind solutions. We welcome the support of the developers and partners involved and the positive recognition of this initiative received from regulators and the UK government.”

Mike Case, business development manager for clean energy at HR Wallingford, said: “Keeping operations moving is a critical issue for the floating wind industry, and the team at HR Wallingford is excited to apply our site selection expertise to the challenge.”

Developer participants include: Gwynt Glas Offshore Wind (EDF Renewables and DP Energy); RWE; Falck Renewables; and one other. Collectively these Developers represent over 5GW of floating offshore wind potential around the UK.

Partner participants include: Falmouth Harbour; Associated British Ports; Ocean Power Technology; Sulmara Subsea; and Skowronnek and Bechnak. The partners provide additional valuable input and perspective in the identification and evaluation of potential locations or key considerations in the selection.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.