Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2021 to Question 74871, what assessment he has made of the merits of developing floating wind energy projects in the Celtic Sea.

The Government considers floating offshore wind as a vital component of the UK’s energy mix. In addition to the test and demonstration floating projects already in early development, the Crown Estate has commenced work on a floating wind leasing round in the Celtic Sea which could bring forward up to 4GW of new projects. The leasing round will focus on early commercial scale projects of 300-350MW and full commercial scale projects of up to 1GW. The Government recently announced up to £160 million to support large-scale floating offshore wind ports and factories to be built across the UK.