Feritech Global welcomes announcement on floating offshore wind acceleration

Falmouth-based Feritech Global has welcomed the UK Government announcement that floating offshore wind development (FLOW) will be accelerated.

In an announcement on 23 September 2022, the UK Government made it clear that, not only is Floating Offshore Wind an essential technology for achieving long-term energy security for the UK, but it also wants to speed up the way in which planning policy is implemented, to allow FLOW technology to be deployed more rapidly.

The Chancellor said he wants to see the “vast majority” of consented, planning and pre-lease stage offshore wind projects start construction by the end of 2023. All remaining UK Round 3, Round 4, Extension, ScotWind, INTOG, Floating Wind Commercialisation Projects and Celtic Sea projects are to be “accelerated” under the UK Government’s growth plan.

“These projects may benefit from acceleration through planning reform, regulatory reform, improved processes or other options to speed up their development and construction, including through development consent processes,” says the government announcement.

Commenting on this move, Rob Ferris, MD of Feritech Global, said: ““We fully support this approach and the sense of urgency that it indicates regarding the commercialisation of Floating Offshore Wind in the UK. Development of this technology in the Celtic Sea represents a huge opportunity for Cornwall and the wider South West region.

“We are very fortunate in the UK that we have access to some of the best wind resources in Europe. Wind is a plentiful, renewable energy resource. FLOW technology has developed at a rapid pace over recent years and has now proved its potential. The sooner we start to reap the full commercial benefits of FLOW technology, the better.”

This year, Feritech Global opened a £3m purpose-built innovation centre in Cornwall. At its launch, Feritech stated that it wanted to use its innovation skills to help meet the engineering challenges of establishing the Floating Offshore Wind industry in the Celtic Sea.

The Feritech Innovation Centre is the most advanced facility of its kind in South West England. Services include product design, precision machining, large scale fabrication, hydraulics, embedded software, electronics and 3D printing.

Rob Ferris adds: “The FLOW sector is now moving rapidly to industrialisation and then on to cost reduction. This is an exciting time to be an innovative engineering company based in Cornwall,”

Prof Lars Johanning, Programme Director of Marine-i, which is part-funded by the EU and is supporting Cornish businesses to accelerate innovation in marine technology, added: “This is great news for the marine tech industry, which will be boosted by this government initiative. Companies like Feritech Global and other superb local businesses are leading the way in this fast growing industry worldwide.”