£9.2m earmarked for Welsh offshore wind infrastructure upgrades

The Celtic Freeport has approved £9.2 million (€10.9 million) for upgrades at Criterion Quay and Ledwood’s quayside facilities, supporting Pembrokeshire’s role in the floating offshore wind industry.

The funding forms part of an £18.4 million (€21.9 million) package for four projects across south-west Wales, intended to strengthen the region’s role in the emerging floating offshore wind sector.

The Port of Milford Haven will receive £7.2 million towards the first phase of its Criterion Quay development at Pembroke Port, while a further £2 million has been approved for the Ledwood Quayside Upgrade in Pembroke Dock.

The Criterion Quay project is intended to restore marine infrastructure, increase berthing capacity and create around 1.7 hectares of laydown space for floating offshore wind activities. The Ledwood investment will improve marine access and support the fabrication and handling of large components for offshore wind projects.

Chris Martin, chair of the Celtic Freeport, said the approvals marked a major step towards delivering the infrastructure needed to attract investment, support skilled employment and accelerate economic growth.

The awards remain subject to the agreement of grant conditions and completion of funding arrangements, including monitoring, assurance and clawback provisions.

Heavy-lift infrastructure and dredging

Publicly available procurement documents provide a more detailed picture of the wider Criterion Quay development previously envisaged by the port authority. They describe a scheme involving a new heavy-lift jetty and associated mooring structures, dredging, land reclamation and the preparation of industrial working areas.

The dredging was expected to involve substantial quantities of rock, with drilling and blasting identified as possible requirements. The earlier outline also proposed reclaiming approximately two hectares of intertidal area, potentially using dredged material.

Onshore works could include remediation of existing land, surfacing of reclaimed and remediated areas, surface-water drainage, perimeter security fencing and gates. The plans also identified internal electricity supplies for lighting and heavy-duty power, external utility services and connections, small ancillary buildings and environmental mitigation measures.

These details indicate the scale of infrastructure that may be required to turn the site into a working base for offshore wind construction and support vessels. Heavy-lift quayside facilities and suitable berthing are important for handling equipment that is too large or heavy for conventional port infrastructure, while prepared laydown areas provide space to store, marshal and transfer components before they are transported offshore.

First steps

The port’s current phased vision says immediate priorities are re-purposing 17,000 square metres of brownfield land and creating laydown and berthing space for survey, cable-laying and installation vessels.

Later phases could add new pontoons, strengthened quay walls, linkspans and upgraded utilities, alongside a larger floating offshore wind operations and maintenance base with heavy-lift capability for turbine component exchange and repair. The port describes the wider programme as a multi-phase development with an indicative total value of about £64 million (€76 million).

The long-term objective is to provide facilities for the development and servicing of floating offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea, where turbines assembled on floating platforms will require substantial port space and specialist marine access.

Upgrading Ledwood’s quayside

The £2 million award for Ledwood is intended to improve marine access and the infrastructure supporting its fabrication and handling activities. The company’s existing capabilities include the manufacture of large steel structures and pipework, protective coating work and quayside load-out of heavy assemblies.

Those activities are relevant to floating offshore wind, where steel fabrication and the movement of large components form part of the supply chain.

Improved quayside access could help connect land-based fabrication with marine transport, although the published funding announcement does not specify the precise construction works, equipment or capacity increases planned at Ledwood.

No detailed public breakdown has yet been identified that confirms whether the award will fund particular lifting equipment, quay strengthening, dredging or other individual upgrades.

Together, the projects are intended to improve the physical infrastructure available to offshore wind developers, vessel operators and manufacturers as the Celtic Sea floating wind sector develops. Final scope and delivery will depend on the detailed project and grant arrangements.7y