Organisations in the South West have expressed their concerns that the development of the offshore wind industry in the area is under threat.

The concerns have been raised as the government has currently only allocated sufficient resources within the upcoming fourth round (AR4) of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme for one floating offshore wind farm project to proceed.

The organisations, which include the Cornwall and Scilly Isles Local Enterprise Partnership, Cammell Laird Ship repairers and Shipbuilders Ltd and Atlantic &

Peninsula Marine Services, say it is likely the Celtic Sea will lose out to another project in the North Sea, which is already well developed.

What this means is that a Celtic Sea stepping-stone project that is currently in the AR4 is unlikely to be developed in time, and a vital opportunity will be lost to prepare the supply chain in Cornwall and across the greater South West and Wales to bid into future floating offshore wind procurement calls and benefit from government and private sector investment into the region.

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Cherilyn Mackrory, MP for Truro and Falmouth, said: "In Falmouth we are ideally placed to benefit from FLOW as part of plans to turbocharge our blue economy.

"We are ideally placed geographically and have the support and drive to succeed from so many local organisations.

"In the aftermath of COP26 we must do all we can to capitalise on this green momentum and that is why it is vital this critical project is supported.

"It has my full backing and is something I will continue to work hard with colleagues locally and in Westminster to make a reality, for the good of Falmouth and our Cornwall."

Mark Duddridge, Chair of the Cornwall and Scilly Isles Local Enterprise Partnership, said in a new

blog: "For Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the scale of opportunity in the race to net zero cannot be overstated.

"The Celtic Sea is one of only two places in the UK singled out by the Government’s Net Zero Strategy for large-scale FLOW deployment. Some 300MW of projects are already moving forward, with a 30–40MW demonstrator expected to be on site by 2025.

"Our target of 3GW of installed capacity could support more than 11,000 jobs and generate £900 million of net additional GVA."