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Business News Wales
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business News Wales
Offshore Renewables Supply Chain Programme To Launch in South Wales
A dedicated regional programme aimed at supporting the floating offshore wind supply chain is set to launch in South-West Wales. The regional programme will run for up to 18 months and will be delivered by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult's Fit For Offshore Renewables programme (F4OR). F4OR supports the development of an increasingly competent, capable and competitive UK offshore renewable energy supply chain. It is focused on helping UK supply chain companies gain the tools needed to succeed in the offshore renewable energy sector. The Crown Estate will provide ORE Catapult with £100,000 in funding to work with businesses in the Swansea Bay City Region, supporting their growth and entry into the floating offshore wind supply chain. This financial contribution will be matched by the Swansea Bay City Deal, which is co-funded by the Welsh and UK Governments, and launched a previous F4OR scheme in the region. From the end of July, Expressions of Interest in the new scheme can be submitted by businesses through the ORE Catapult website and successful businesses will be judged against a set of relevant criteria, including their commitment to expanding their footprint in the floating offshore wind supply chain and alignment with the ambitions set out in the Celtic Sea Blueprint. The programme was announced during an event hosted by The Crown Estate in the Senedd in Cardiff, where Members joined local authorities, industry partners, community groups and skills organisations to showcase the collaborative working taking place on its projects and activities across Wales. The Crown Estate's Chief Executive Dan Labbad attended alongside Senedd Members, where the organisation presented its Wales Review to outline positive impact and future opportunities from its activities across the country. The funding for this scheme is in addition to The Crown Estate's recently announced proposal to invest up to £400 million of capital into the UK's offshore wind supply chain. Some of this funding is already being deployed in Wales through its £50 million Supply Chain Accelerator, supporting organisations including Neath Port Talbot Group of Colleges, Pembrokeshire College and Marine Power Systems Ltd. Rebecca Williams, Director, Devolved Nations at The Crown Estate, said: 'Having the opportunity to showcase and celebrate the individuals and collaboration involved in The Crown Estate's work across Wales in the Senedd was fantastic, and we're grateful to the Members who supported our event. It's inspiring to bring together so many valued partners who are helping us to serve communities and businesses across Wales, now and into the future. 'SMEs are a core driver of Wales's economy. The F4OR scheme with ORE Catapult will help businesses in South Wales take advantage of the many opportunities presented by the development of a new floating offshore wind industry in the Celtic Sea. Through a thriving supply chain, we can create jobs, skills and play an important role in the clean energy transition.' Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, Rebecca Evans, said: 'Floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver lasting economic and social value for Wales. 'Working in partnership with the Crown Estate and others, we are determined to ensure Wales is in the best possible position to reap the rewards from the renewable energy revolution. 'This important programme will support local companies bidding for work in the floating offshore wind industry. This will help improve the awareness of Welsh firms about what is required to do business in the offshore wind sector.' Andy Macdonald, Director – Development & Operations, ORE Catapult, said: 'South Wales has an enviable reputation for engineering and manufacturing excellence, coupled with huge potential to support the growth and expansion of floating offshore wind. The Fit for Offshore Renewables (F4OR) supply chain programme provides an ideal route for companies with the right combination of key skills, expertise and leadership to make the transition to the renewable energy sector. 'As we see the Celtic Sea becoming an increasingly important location for floating wind development, the opportunity for local innovative companies to tap into the huge economic potential is clear, and this support is specifically designed to help those companies turn potential into reality.' This announcement follows the news in June that Equinor and Gwynt Glas – a joint venture between EDF Renewables UK and ESB – had been selected as preferred bidders to take forward two new floating wind farms as part of The Crown Estate's Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5 in the Celtic Sea. Launched at the start of 2024, a core focus of Round 5 has been to open up a new region of the UK for the generation of more secure, clean energy, while kick-starting the development of a new industry and supply chain around the Celtic Sea. The Crown Estate's Celtic Sea Blueprint published last year showed that Round 5 could support the creation of 5,300 new jobs and deliver a £1.4 billion boost to the UK economy.
North Wales Chronicle
01-07-2025
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
Crown Estate profits remain at record high but windfarm boost set to fall back
The latest annual figures from The Crown Estate, which oversees the royal family's land and property holdings, revealed earnings stayed at the all-time high of £1.1 billion for the second year in a row. This has helped bring returns to the Treasury to £5 billion over the past decade. The Crown Estate is run as an independent business, but its profits are paid directly to the Treasury, which then hands on a small portion of the money to the monarchy, known as the Sovereign Grant, which supports the official duties of the royal family. Earnings have spiked to record levels in the past two years thanks to option fees – payments made by companies to reserve a patch of the seabed to eventually build their wind turbines on. But The Crown Estate said the so-called option fee uplift is expected to drop back significantly in the current financial year – down from £1.07 billion in 2024/25 to around £25 million a year from January 2026 as projects move into the construction phase. This will see the net revenue profit 'normalise', according to The Crown Estate. But it said underlying profits, stripping out the option fee boost, stood at £366 million in the year to the end of March and would continue to grow. The Crown Estate owns the vast majority of Britain's seabed, stretching up to 12 nautical miles from the mainland, and leases part of it to wind farm operators. It also has a 180,000-acre property holding across the UK, including much of London's Regent Street and St James's, and large swathes of arable land and forestry. Dan Labbad, chief executive at The Crown Estate, said it had been a 'landmark year' for collection, but flagged a difficult backdrop in the wider economy. He said: 'This year's results are set against significant global economic disturbance. 'This affects the UK and Crown Estate just as it affects countries and businesses. 'This has made for a more challenging period.' The results showed the value of The Crown Estate's land and assets was £15 billion in 2024/25, down from £15.5 billion the previous year. The drop came after gains in its urban and rural businesses were offset by a £1 billion fall in the valuation of its marine assets. It said the valuation of the marine portfolio had jumped higher in anticipation of option fees, but that it reduced as this income was recognised, falling back to £3.4 billion from £4.4 billion in 2023/24. The figures come after the new Crown Estate Bill was passed earlier this year, handing it more powers to invest and borrow. The Treasury has said the changes will allow The Crown Estate to invest more in green energy and help the UK achieve net zero. Recent investments by The Crown Estate include a joint venture announced in May with Lendlease for housing and science and innovation space across six projects. It said this has the potential to deliver 100,000 jobs, 26,000 homes and have an overall value of up to £24 billion. Mr Labbad said: 'Thanks to new legislation, we now have greater flexibility to invest across our portfolio, increasing our resilience and potential, and enabling us to create lasting benefits for the country and its finances.' Under previous rules, The Crown Estate could not use its cash reserves to invest because it had to hold them against the prospect of future financial losses. But greater ability to borrow will see it invest more in offshore wind. The Government has also committed to doubling its onshore wind capacity by 2030 and Mr Labbad said The Crown Estate was reviewing its land portfolio to see if more onshore wind projects could be 'viable and relevant'. It will report back later in 2025.
New Straits Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Britain's Crown Estate reports profit of US$1.57bil, led by offshore wind
LONDON: The Crown Estate, which manages King Charles' public property, reported an annual net profit of 1.15 billion pounds (US$1.57 billion) on Tuesday, similar to the previous year, with offshore wind leases its biggest source of revenue. The Crown Estate, which comprises tracts of land and most of Britain's sea bed, is an independently run, commercial business, whose profit - seen as the benchmark for the level of public funding for the royal family - goes to the UK Treasury. Net revenue profit was 1.15 billion pounds for the year between April 1 2024 and March 31 2025, the company said in a statement. The bulk of revenue, around 1.07 billion pounds, came from the offshore wind farm leasing tender Round 4. The Crown Estate said revenue from the leasing round were expected to drop to 25 million pounds a year from January 2026 as more projects moved to the development stage. "We always knew the boost to our profits due to offshore wind leasing option fees from Round four was short term, and we expect this year to be the high point for these returns," Dan Labbad, CEO of the Crown Estate said in a briefing with journalists. Wind power, both on and offshore, was Britain's largest source of electricity last year providing around 30 per cent of the country's power. But offshore wind costs have risen over the past few years due to inflation and supply chain bottlenecks, leading to the cancellation of some projects. In June, the Crown Estate said Equinor and Gwynt Glas won seabed leases to build floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea in its latest lease auction round 5. Labbad said revenues from this round were expected to show materially from the early- to mid-2030s. Britain's monarchy receives a sovereign grant to cover running costs of the royal households and travel expenses which is currently set at 12% of the profit from the Crown Estate. The grant amount for 2025-2026 will be 132 million pounds, government documents showed.
South Wales Guardian
01-07-2025
- Business
- South Wales Guardian
Crown Estate profits remain at record high but windfarm boost set to fall back
The latest annual figures from The Crown Estate, which oversees the royal family's land and property holdings, revealed earnings stayed at the all-time high of £1.1 billion for the second year in a row. This has helped bring returns to the Treasury to £5 billion over the past decade. The Crown Estate is run as an independent business, but its profits are paid directly to the Treasury, which then hands on a small portion of the money to the monarchy, known as the Sovereign Grant, which supports the official duties of the royal family. Earnings have spiked to record levels in the past two years thanks to option fees – payments made by companies to reserve a patch of the seabed to eventually build their wind turbines on. But The Crown Estate said the so-called option fee uplift is expected to drop back significantly in the current financial year – down from £1.07 billion in 2024/25 to around £25 million a year from January 2026 as projects move into the construction phase. This will see the net revenue profit 'normalise', according to The Crown Estate. But it said underlying profits, stripping out the option fee boost, stood at £366 million in the year to the end of March and would continue to grow. The Crown Estate owns the vast majority of Britain's seabed, stretching up to 12 nautical miles from the mainland, and leases part of it to wind farm operators. It also has a 180,000-acre property holding across the UK, including much of London's Regent Street and St James's, and large swathes of arable land and forestry. Dan Labbad, chief executive at The Crown Estate, said it had been a 'landmark year' for collection, but flagged a difficult backdrop in the wider economy. He said: 'This year's results are set against significant global economic disturbance. 'This affects the UK and Crown Estate just as it affects countries and businesses. 'This has made for a more challenging period.' The results showed the value of The Crown Estate's land and assets was £15 billion in 2024/25, down from £15.5 billion the previous year. The drop came after gains in its urban and rural businesses were offset by a £1 billion fall in the valuation of its marine assets. It said the valuation of the marine portfolio had jumped higher in anticipation of option fees, but that it reduced as this income was recognised, falling back to £3.4 billion from £4.4 billion in 2023/24. The figures come after the new Crown Estate Bill was passed earlier this year, handing it more powers to invest and borrow. The Treasury has said the changes will allow The Crown Estate to invest more in green energy and help the UK achieve net zero. Recent investments by The Crown Estate include a joint venture announced in May with Lendlease for housing and science and innovation space across six projects. It said this has the potential to deliver 100,000 jobs, 26,000 homes and have an overall value of up to £24 billion. Mr Labbad said: 'Thanks to new legislation, we now have greater flexibility to invest across our portfolio, increasing our resilience and potential, and enabling us to create lasting benefits for the country and its finances.' Under previous rules, The Crown Estate could not use its cash reserves to invest because it had to hold them against the prospect of future financial losses. But greater ability to borrow will see it invest more in offshore wind. The Government has also committed to doubling its onshore wind capacity by 2030 and Mr Labbad said The Crown Estate was reviewing its land portfolio to see if more onshore wind projects could be 'viable and relevant'. It will report back later in 2025.
Leader Live
01-07-2025
- Business
- Leader Live
Crown Estate profits remain at record high but windfarm boost set to fall back
The latest annual figures from The Crown Estate, which oversees the royal family's land and property holdings, revealed earnings stayed at the all-time high of £1.1 billion for the second year in a row. This has helped bring returns to the Treasury to £5 billion over the past decade. The Crown Estate is run as an independent business, but its profits are paid directly to the Treasury, which then hands on a small portion of the money to the monarchy, known as the Sovereign Grant, which supports the official duties of the royal family. Earnings have spiked to record levels in the past two years thanks to option fees – payments made by companies to reserve a patch of the seabed to eventually build their wind turbines on. But The Crown Estate said the so-called option fee uplift is expected to drop back significantly in the current financial year – down from £1.07 billion in 2024/25 to around £25 million a year from January 2026 as projects move into the construction phase. This will see the net revenue profit 'normalise', according to The Crown Estate. But it said underlying profits, stripping out the option fee boost, stood at £366 million in the year to the end of March and would continue to grow. The Crown Estate owns the vast majority of Britain's seabed, stretching up to 12 nautical miles from the mainland, and leases part of it to wind farm operators. It also has a 180,000-acre property holding across the UK, including much of London's Regent Street and St James's, and large swathes of arable land and forestry. Dan Labbad, chief executive at The Crown Estate, said it had been a 'landmark year' for collection, but flagged a difficult backdrop in the wider economy. He said: 'This year's results are set against significant global economic disturbance. 'This affects the UK and Crown Estate just as it affects countries and businesses. 'This has made for a more challenging period.' The results showed the value of The Crown Estate's land and assets was £15 billion in 2024/25, down from £15.5 billion the previous year. The drop came after gains in its urban and rural businesses were offset by a £1 billion fall in the valuation of its marine assets. It said the valuation of the marine portfolio had jumped higher in anticipation of option fees, but that it reduced as this income was recognised, falling back to £3.4 billion from £4.4 billion in 2023/24. The figures come after the new Crown Estate Bill was passed earlier this year, handing it more powers to invest and borrow. The Treasury has said the changes will allow The Crown Estate to invest more in green energy and help the UK achieve net zero. Recent investments by The Crown Estate include a joint venture announced in May with Lendlease for housing and science and innovation space across six projects. It said this has the potential to deliver 100,000 jobs, 26,000 homes and have an overall value of up to £24 billion. Mr Labbad said: 'Thanks to new legislation, we now have greater flexibility to invest across our portfolio, increasing our resilience and potential, and enabling us to create lasting benefits for the country and its finances.' Under previous rules, The Crown Estate could not use its cash reserves to invest because it had to hold them against the prospect of future financial losses. But greater ability to borrow will see it invest more in offshore wind. The Government has also committed to doubling its onshore wind capacity by 2030 and Mr Labbad said The Crown Estate was reviewing its land portfolio to see if more onshore wind projects could be 'viable and relevant'. It will report back later in 2025.
