Offshore wind
The South West. Home to the future of offshore wind
Transforming the UK’s energy industry with clean electricity
By 2035 the UK’s biggest floating offshore wind farms will be up and running in the Celtic Sea, bordering North Devon and Cornwall. This is a once-in-a-generation jobs and investment opportunity for the maritime industries. Here in the South West we have everything the floating offshore wind industry needs to make its new developments a success.
Why the South West is leading the floating offshore wind industry
Ready-to-work employees
In the South West working with the ocean is in our blood. We’ve got a huge talent pool of people trained in marine engineering, autonomous craft, data mapping and high-value manufacturing. These are the people who will secure the future of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.
World-class facilities to develop, test and build infrastructure
Our long involvement with offshore renewables makes us a leader in wind and wave power. The University of Plymouth has dedicated facilities to develop, test and build offshore wind floating platforms. Appledore’s new Clean Maritime Centre will develop and build low-carbon vessels to support the industry. And our deep understanding of the ocean helps understand and mitigate the impact of development on the environment.
Supply chains and logistics
The industrial-scale supply chains needed for the Celtic Sea projects are already in place. The construction of Hinkley C in Somerset created the capability and experience to deliver large projects. Falmouth Port has been supporting the offshore renewables industry for 20 years, and is receiving major upgrades to prepare it for floating offshore wind.
How Maritime UK South West’s members are forging the future
Falmouth Port is at the centre of the offshore renewables industry in the South West, and owner A&P is developing it to meet the needs of floating offshore wind. A £1m project is underway to build a marshalling yard for floating platform components to be gathered, and the site is being upgraded to deal with the vessels required for the Celtic Sea development. It will offer a complete service for the fabrication, construction and maintenance of offshore wind infrastructure, as well as port and marine services.
Maritime design and engineering consultancy BMT is a world leader in offshore wind development, with global experience in the industry. Its full-service offer covers every stage of a project, from initial planning to final decommissioning, and its engineering expertise helps create innovative solutions to difficult problems.
Celtic Sea Power creates the partnerships needed to deliver floating offshore wind. Owned by Cornwall Council, it acts a bridgehead between investors, operators, employers, manufacturing and local expertise. It focuses on matching employers with skills providers, supporting infrastructure upgrades, minimising environmental impact and growing the south west’s renewables industry.
Legal advisers and solicitors Foot Anstey are specialists in the renewable energy industry, working with key players in the Celtic Sea project to start the procurement process. Their teams helped with data procurement for the early stages of the development.
The UK’s leading research centre for offshore renewables, ORE Catapult runs a dedicated facility to develop floating wind technology. Its capabilities cover everything from data and robotics to working on the world’s largest wind turbine. Its Cornish team is an important partner in the Celtic Sea project, bringing together international projects and local supply chains.
PML and its commercial arm, PML Applications, have a long track record of working with the offshore energy industry. It offers services such as materials selection for infrastructure, corrosion prevention testing, data collection and site monitoring with autonomous vessels. Recent work includes collaborating with ORE Catapult on a new method for assessing the environmental impact of offshore wind development, with an emphasis on using autonomous vessels for more efficient data collection.
Solis Marine specialises in developing, testing and building offshore renewables; at its Falmouth base, 90% of its engineering work is related to marine decarbonisation and offshore renewables.
Its team is skilled in addressing the technical challenges relating to mooring systems, installation and maintenance. They also have extensive experience of wave energy devices and tidal turbines.
With 20 years’ involvement in offshore wind, the University of Exeter is a national leader in researching the technology needed to for the Celtic Sea development. Its focus on moorings, operations and maintenance, component testing, system reliability and energy transmission will help operators build a successful, long-lived network. It also specialises in assessing the interaction between manmade structures and marine animals, and how that affects the impact of offshore infrastructure.
A leader in the development and research of offshore wind, the University has some of the UK’s most comprehensive research and test facilities. These include a wind turbine test facility, a cyber security research centre and a maritime simulator capable of running multiple experiments in different locations. It’s helping create a skilled workforce for floating offshore wind, with courses to develop existing and future employees, and build partnerships with industry, researchers and government.