Welsh leader hails Celtic Sea wind ports list and welcomes French contender

The naming of preferred ports by developers taking part in the UK's Celtic Sea floating wind leasing round has been welcomed by the First Minister of Wales, who said the fact that one of the developers had named the French port of Brest was no threat to Welsh ambitions of drumming up significant supply chain investments.

The five or so developers thought to be taking part in the process have not been identified yet, but the primary and secondary ports nominations for their proposed floating wind projects were made public.

The list included the Welsh ports of Pembroke (Milford Haven), Swansea and Port Talbot, plus the English ports of Bristol, Plymouth and Falmouth Port, and also the French Port of Brest.

Morgan said a working group that was was set up six months ago to analyse exactly what needs to be done, when and by who to pursue these objectives is expected to report soon, "so that we are ready to start work as soon as developers are known".

Winning bidders in the Celtic Sea round are expected to sign lease agreements this summer, with the hope that projects could ultimately come online in the early 2030s.

Research published last year by The Crown Estate showed that these new wind farms jobs could deliver a £1.4bn ($1.81bn) boost to the economy,

Friend not foe

"We have a really good relationship with Brittany. We've talked to Brest and also with the president of Brittany. What is clear to me is that there is enough work to go round for everyone. What we need to do is not to fight each other but cooperate and see who is best placed to do what," Morgan said.

The Welsh leader said she wanted to be "very realistic" about what is possible.

"It's highly unlikely we'll be getting (wind turbine) blades or anything like that, but I'm really keen to see what is possible, what's realistic," she said on the sidelines of the the WindEurope 2025 event in Copenhagen.

"That's what's been really useful over the past couple of days here. We are getting a reality check from the industry and the sector in terms of what they think might be possible and where the opportunities are. The question we are asking ourselves, at all time, is how can we use this to maximise the benefits for the people of Wales."

While Morgan is juggling how to use devolved power to maximise benefits in this way, there is also the dual task of tapping into UK funding mechanisms.

"The UK government has deeper pockets than us on some of the things and they need to help us out. So the earlier we can set out where the optimum opportunities the better," she said.

She cited the declaration of two tax-free port zones as one of the ways of helping Welsh ports compete for business and resources.

"Port Talbot is particularly interesting because it's right next to a major steelworks where they've just closed the blast furnace and they are going to develop a new electric arc furnace," she said.

"So there may be some opportunities for working together but more than, it's got a massive space where you could be assembling things."

Jane Cooper, deputy CEO of industry association RenewableUK welcomed the naming of ports.

"The UK government doesn't want to pick the winners — they want this to come from the industry — but the process has not been moving as quickly as we would like," she said.

"So it's really good news that those ports have been named, as it creates more focus for everyone involved, and it is good that there are both Welsh and non-Welsh ports on the list."

Cooper also called for more visibility on the future leasing rounds coming through from the Crown Estate.

"All of these ports are looking for the funding and support that is available and they need to see that there' are other opportunities for them coming through. We need to keep moving forward, and we need to do so quickly".

Devolution debate

From the Welsh point of view, there is the added complexity of working on two fronts, with devolved powers and tapping UK mechanisms

Morgan is also determined that Wales should be able to control its own seabed leasing, with a devolution of Crown Estate function, as takes place in Scotland. She sees this as a battle for resources

"At the moment, I'm absolutely focused on maximising the benefits for the Welsh people (from the Celtic Sea leasing round). I don't want to interfere with the opportunity to develop these projects in Wales," she says.

"But I will continue the constitutional battle with the United Kingdom government on the need to devolve the Crown Estate to us. We've been talking to them about it a long time, but we are not going to give up."