Property company Crown Estate says that proposals to build floating wind farms off the coast of South Wales provide thousands of new jobs. According to the Monarch’s privately held but independently run property company, the new industry may create some 29,000 new jobs overall, 10,000 of which would be in Wales. It is rented to the region to generate enough electricity for four million homes. However, the projects have been pressured to move quickly by businesses eager to win contracts from them.

“It’s a big opportunity to create a new sector in Wales and the UK,” said the Crown Estate’s Nicola Clay. Most of the offshore wind farms in the UK were permanently anchored to the seabed until recently. In contrast to conventional offshore wind farms, floating wind farms can be built in deeper waters where the wind is frequently stronger, such as off the coast of Pembrokeshire. The wind turbines are floated atop substantial steel structures and connected to the ocean floor. An industry group called the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult predicts that the Crown Estate tenders, which will be made public in the summer of 2023, may boost the UK economy by up to £43.6 billion by 2050. About 10,000 of the anticipated 29,000 new workers would be employed in Wales to help with project management and construction.