Work on a facility to support the expansion of floating offshore wind (FLOW) in the Celtic Sea is “well underway” at Falmouth Docks in Cornwall, according to a mid-March update from Cornwall Council.
APCL Falmouth, the owner of Falmouth Docks, is building a FLOW marshalling facility with 320,000 sq feet (30,000 sq m) of laydown space between County and Duchy Wharfs to serve the growing FLOW market.
The £1m project is being partially funded by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Programme, which is managed by Cornwall Council.
The programme is meeting around half of the cost, or £502,500, from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
In its update, Cornwall Council said around 100,000 sq feet (10,000 sq m) of unused sheds had now been demolished at the site and improvements to 210,000 sq feet (20,000 sq m) of quayside space, including resurfacing, were now underway.
“FLOW developers need sites at ports with substantial laydown space for marshalling components,” stated Drystan Jones, APCL Falmouth’s director of port development, who also serves as Falmouth Docks and Engineering Company’s director and general manager.
“These sites also need to be adjacent to large quaysides to allow access for jack-up and other construction vessels during installation operations. The space being created at Falmouth has been modelled and tested with FLOW developers (encompassing multiple device designs) to ensure it is fit for purpose.”
Celtic Sea
This comes as the UK government pursues a target of 4.5GW of FLOW capacity in the Celtic Sea by 2035, with a further 12GW by 2045. The relative immaturity of FLOW technology, however, means that meeting these targets may not be straightforward.
“Floating offshore wind is a newer technology than fixed foundation offshore wind, and although many of the parts are not unique, their combination in a floating platform in much more energetic conditions is,” Tom Edwards, principal modeller at energy consultancy Cornwall Insight, told Energy Voice.
“Therefore, there is a higher up-front capital, operational and financing cost for these assets, which mean, initially they will be more expensive on a per MWh basis than traditional offshore wind farms.”
There are options for connections for the initial 4.5GW of capacity in Alverdiscott and between Swansea and Pembroke, Edwards said.
“Connections is one of the major challenges for new build offshore wind,” he continued. “The second would be a commercial question on the government support available, CfD auctions primarily, the cost of connections (TNUoS and network charges reform) and questions around zonal market arrangements under REMA.”
Edwards added that this applied to all types of renewables and not just FLOW. According to him, continuity and clarity within this regulatory environment could help with the ongoing rollout of FLOW projects.
“Floating offshore wind already benefits from a special auction pot in the CfD, and confirmation of this continuing into future rounds would be helpful for the technology,” he said.
“Other major markets changes could also include clarity on zonal market arrangements under REMA and more stable and predictable TNUoS charges over long periods.”
FLOW supply chain
As the FLOW industry advances, the broader supply chain will need to advance with it. Construction of the Falmouth Docks FLOW marshalling facility demonstrates that efforts are underway to ensure this happens.
And indeed, this is not the only FLOW-related project being funded by the Good Growth Programme, Cornwall Council noted.
Other investments by the programme aimed at supporting the development of FLOW include investment in Penzance Dry Dock, support for floating dry dock technology business Tugdock, a feasibility study for a mooring and anchoring R&D centre in Cornwall in collaboration with the University of Plymouth and investment in the Cornwall FLOW Commission to lead sector development.
The commission formally began operations in November 2024. Its focus includes supply chain and skills capacity, Cornwall Council said.
