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Tide turns for floating wind as UK and EU approve major projects
13/8/2025
News
The UK’s White Cross floating wind farm in the Celtic Sea has gained approval, while the European Commission is greenlighting an €11bn French aid scheme to support 1.5 GW of floating wind capacity in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Scotland’s Berwick Bank is poised to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
White Cross Celtic Sea floating offshore wind project receives full consent
The 100 MW White Cross floating offshore wind farm in the Celtic Sea has been granted full onshore and offshore planning approval. To be developed by Flotation Energy and Cobra, the proposed wind farm would be located 52 km off the north Devon coast in the Celtic Sea and comprise six to eight floating wind turbines.
‘The UK is already a leader in floating offshore wind technology, but until now this has only been via projects in Scottish waters,’ comments Sam Park, Senior Project Manager for White Cross. ‘We will seek to spark the development of a specialised local supply chain, creating jobs whilst providing 135,000 homes with renewable energy.’
The wind farm’s offshore export cables will make landfall at Saunton Sands beach. A new onshore substation will accommodate connection to the existing East Yelland substation. The underground onshore cables will use trenchless technology designed to avoid surface disruption within the Braunton Burrows Special Area of Conservation (SAC) dune system and the Taw-Torridge Estuary SSSI, according to the project partners.
The White Cross project will support the UK government’s target of between 43–50 GW of offshore wind by 2030, of which at least 5 GW will be floating. In the Celtic Sea, the goal is for up to 4.5 GW of floating wind energy by 2035 and further 12 GW by 2045.
The UK government reports that the country currently has 30.7 GW of offshore wind either installed or committed, with a further 7.2 GW of capacity consented. Some 78 MW of capacity of floating wind generation is currently operational, from two projects – Hywind Scotland (30 MW) and Kincardine (48 MW).
The Solar Power Portal says the seabed around the UK is already leased for up to 24 GW of capacity.
EC approves €11bn French State aid scheme to support floating offshore wind energy
Meanwhile, on the Continent, the European Commission has approved a €11bn French scheme to develop three floating offshore wind farms – one in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Southern Brittany and two others in the Mediterranean Sea. Each wind farm will have a capacity of around 500 MW.
The 20-year scheme was approved under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) adopted by the Commission on 25 June 2025. It will contribute to the EU meeting its renewable energy target of at least 42.5% by 2030.
The state aid will be provided as direct price support, through two-way contracts for difference (CfD) calculated by comparing the bidder’s offered reference price against market prices. A competitive bidding process will see one winning bidder selected per offshore zone. When the market price falls below the reference price, the French state will pay the difference. However, if the market price exceeds the reference price, the project developer will reimburse the difference to the French authorities.
Supply chain resilience has been included as a tender prequalification and award criterion in order to diversify wind turbine and main specific components supply chains to reduce dependency on imports from China, notes the EC.
Earlier this year, France commissioned its first floating offshore wind farm in the Gulf of Fos (west of Marseille) in southern France. The 25 MW Provence Grand Large pilot project is being developed by EDF Renewables and Enbridge Éolien France 2 (EEF2), a subsidiary of Enbridge and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments). It comprises three Siemens Gamesa 8 MW turbines.
Green light for Berwick Bank paves way for world’s largest offshore wind farm
The Scottish government has granted consent for the 4.1 GW Berwick Bank offshore wind farm, located in the outer Firth of Forth off the East Lothian coast, Scotland. If fully delivered, Berwick Bank would become the world’s largest offshore wind farm, capable of generating enough clean energy from its 307 turbines to power more than six million homes annually, according to project developer SSE Renewables.
The next step is for SSE Renewables to secure a contract for new low-carbon offshore wind power under the UK’s contracts for difference (CfD) scheme in the AR7 auction round, which closes at the end of August.
The project is expected to play a pivotal role in meeting the UK government’s plan to increase installed offshore wind capacity by up to 50 GW. It could also increase Scotland’s current operational renewable electricity capacity by almost 25%.
