Celtic Sea floating wind

In February 2024, The Crown Estate embarked on a new leasing round for three areas of seabed off the coasts of Wales and South West England. Known as Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5, the process looked to award rights for three new floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea, capable of generating enough new renewable energy capacity to power more than four million homes (up to 4.5 gigawatts).

The leasing round follows more than three years of engagement with a range of stakeholders including UK and Welsh governments, industry, environmental bodies and other users of the seabed to identify the best locations for the new wind farms and inform the approach to the leasing round.

In June 2025 the outcome of the auction was announced, with Equinor granted exclusive rights to one project development area, with a capacity of up to 1.5GW.The Celtic Sea region has been assessed to have the economic potential to accommodate up to an additional 20GW of offshore wind by 2045.

The region’s wealth of wind resources and strong maritime history provide an opportunity to develop commercial-scale floating offshore wind farms, while helping to develop a new floating wind industry through collaboration with the local supply chain.

In the Celtic Sea, it is not just homes we need to power, but also businesses, service providers, shops, schools – anything that uses energy. South Wales is home to industrial clusters, which include many large consumers of energy in hard-to-abate sectors. Floating offshore wind from the Celtic Sea could provide the electrons and molecules needed to decarbonise some of these sectors.

Equinor is committed to delivering positive impact at a local and regional level. The Celtic Sea presents an opportunity for Wales and the South West of England to develop a competitive floating offshore wind industry, with a concentration of skills, manufacturing capabilities and operational excellence, to lead the UK and Europe forward in floating offshore wind. Based on our pioneering expertise and experience in floating offshore wind, Equinor can deliver ambitious projects in the Celtic Sea, rooted in the creation of local and regional value with opportunities from now into the future.