Offshore floating wind energy player BW Ideol has signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK’s largest port operator, Associated British Ports (ABP), to investigate the feasibility of building floating foundations at Port Talbot.
The companies will consider whether serial production of concrete substructures for floating offshore wind turbine foundations is viable at the port. This agreement has been signed in preparation for the forthcoming Celtic Sea leasing round announced by the Crown Estate. ABP said that Port Talbot has the scale – both in terms of marine and brownfield land space and technical capabilities – to maximise the Celtic Sea supply chain opportunities on offer.
“We can’t wait to start working with ABP at Port Talbot and we have no doubt that it will confirm that our patented concrete floating solution, which is the most compact and scalable solution on the market, is manufacturable at a large scale and will be able to equip future installation sites in the Celtic Sea while providing the highest level of local content,” said Paul de la Guérivière, ceo of BW Ideol. “We have already demonstrated it in Scotland where we have developed fabrication methods able to provide floaters for the equivalent of 1 GW per year.”
ABP added that it aims invest over GBP500 million (USD632.3 million) to transform Port Talbot into a major floating offshore wind hub, serving as a hub for a wider network of ports. The investment is part of its sustainability strategy launched earlier in 2023, which sets out plans for ABP and partners to invest GBP2 billion (USD2.53 billion) into decarbonising its own operations by 2040 and supporting large-scale green energy infrastructure and industrial decarbonisation projects.
At the end of 2023, ABP invested GBP4.2 million (USD5.3 million) in a new Liebherr LHM 420 mobile harbour crane that will be stationed at the port of Hull.
