Shaping the future of floating offshore wind energy

Plymouth’s expertise is pivotal to investment and employment opportunities
Sunset Offshore Wind Turbine in a Wind farm under construction of England coast, UK. Image courtesy of Getty Images.  

Independent research by experts, including a leading scientist at the University of Plymouth, says new floating wind farms off the coast of South West England could create more than 5,000 new jobs and boost the economy by up to £1.4 billion.
Commissioned by the Crown Estate, The Celtic Sea Blueprint was conducted by Lumen Energy & Environment and highlights significant supply chain and infrastructure opportunities for the region.
Among the report’s contributors is Professor Lars Johanning , who recently joined Plymouth as Professor of Ocean Technology and Associate Head of School, having worked previously at Exeter.

The University of Plymouth is at the forefront of interdisciplinary research enabling the Celtic Sea floating offshore wind (FLOW) development working closely with site and technology developers, as well as The Crown Estate. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to achieve an ambitious development of FLOW in the Celtic Sea with established targets of 4.5GW of energy deployed by 2035 and a further 20GW by 2045. This is a significant part of the UK requirement for at least 75GW of offshore wind energy by 2050. The combined 100GW of FLOW deployment can deliver £43.6bn in UK gross value added (GVA) by 2050, whilst boosting industry and socio-economic opportunity in Wales and the South West.

Lars JohanningProfessor Lars Johanning
Associate Head of School - Research

Plymouth’s Centre for Decarbonisation and Offshore Renewable Energy (C-DORE) is at the heart of this green energy revolution. The University is home to the UK Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Test facility and other specialist laboratories, including the COAST Lab , Maritime Simulation Lab , and Cyber-SHIP Lab .
In addition, C-DORE’s director, Professor Deborah Greaves OBE FREng also leads the national Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy Hub .

Turbines as tall as The Shard

The first three floating windfarms in the Celtic Sea will generate enough electricity to power more than four million homes and will be some of the largest in the world.
More than 260 turbines, each around 300 metres tall, will sit on floating platforms the size of football pitches.

Floating offshore wind solutions for Celtic Sea developers

The University of Plymouth's unrivalled technical capabilities and expertise can support the successful roll-out of floating offshore wind (FLOW) in the Celtic Sea. Work with us to access the definitive place to test, trial and deploy renewable energy technology.
Celtic Sea floating offshore wind