A £1m project to put Falmouth at the forefront of floating offshore wind development in the Celtic Sea by creating 30,000 square metres of dockside space is well underway.
Floating offshore wind - or FLOW - is seen as a major economic and environmental opportunity for Cornwall.
The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed around England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, has set a target of 4.5GW of FLOW electricity-generating capacity in the Celtic Sea by 2035, which is enough to power four million homes from three proposed wind farms. There are also plans for a further 12GW by 2045.
The first three wind farms alone will need more than 260 turbines, each up to 300 metres tall and mounted on a floating platform about the size of a football pitch.
They will require 1,000 anchors to secure them to the seabed, with at least 300km of mooring lines and 900km of cables to link the turbines with the grid onshore.
To ensure that a good proportion of this activity is captured in Cornwall - bringing significant investment and job creation - Falmouth Docks owner APCL Falmouth is creating a FLOW marshalling facility with 30,000 square metres (almost 7.5 acres) of laydown space between County and Duchy Wharfs for the growing FLOW market.
The £1m investment is being part-funded by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Programme, which is managed by Cornwall Council. The programme is meeting half of the cost, with £502,500 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Work is well advanced, with approximately 10,000 square metres of unused sheds now demolished and improvements to 20,000 square metres of quayside space, including resurfacing, underway.
Cllr Louis Gardner, Cornwall Council portfolio holder for the economy, said:
"This vital infrastructure investment is among a suite of FLOW-related projects funded by the Good Growth Programme to ensure that Cornwall is at the forefront of this economic and environmental opportunity. It will ensure that the Port of Falmouth remains a strategically important economic asset while boosting key sectors including renewable energy, engineering, and marine."
Drystan Jones Director Port Development, APCL Falmouth, Director, General Manager Falmouth Docks and Engineering Company; said: “Falmouth Port is a statutory harbour authority operated by Falmouth Docks and Engineering Company (FDEC).
“As such, APCL is committed to modernising the existing infrastructure to ensure the port can meet the changing demands which are placed upon it, which includes supporting the growth of floating offshore wind and growing cruise activity in Cornwall.
“This project is the first phase of a programme of modernisation, which will see investment in APCL Falmouth, which will underpin social and economic growth in Cornwall.”
FLOW developers need sites at ports with substantial laydown space for marshalling components. 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.
Other Good Growth Programme investments 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 take a strategic lead in sector development, including supply chain and skills capacity.
For more information about the Good Growth Programme visit the website.
ENDS
Posted 13 March, 2025