Current operational commercial projects
The United Kingdom has two operational commercial projects in the North Sea, Kincardine (50 MW) and Hywind Scotland (30 MW). Portugal has the Windfloat Atlantic (25 MW) project. Provence Grand Large (25 MW) is the most recently completed project, located off the Mediterranean coast of France.
As well as these projects which provide electricity to households, the Hywind Tampen (88 MW) project located in the North Sea off the Norwegian coast supplies the Snorre and Gullfaks offshore oil and gas platforms. It forms part of the efforts to lower carbon emissions from oil and gas fields. The project is currently the world’s largest floating wind project.
Overcoming the cost hurdle
Cost is the main issue with floating offshore wind. The levelised cost of energy (LCOE) represents the lifetime average cost of producing electricity from a generating asset, calculated on a net present value basis. While fixed bottom wind projects can have a LCOE below US$100/MWh, the LCOE of the floating wind projects well exceeded US$100/MWh. This was due largely to the small sizes of the first floating wind projects, and the immaturity of the technology and supply chain. A recent report by an independent industry expert DNV stated that floating wind LCOE have been decreasing over the years due to improvements as regards these matters and is expected to be under US$40/MWh by 2050.
Proposed large scale commercial projects
Several large scale commercial floating offshore projects are in development in Europe. The projects in the UK in the planning stage or later include the Buchan (960 MW), Muir Mohr (798 MW), Ossian (3,600 MW), and Cenos and Green Volt (1,900 MW combined) projects – the Cenos and Green Volt projects being part of the INTOG Leasing Round (see below) and will use the electricity to help decarbonise offshore oil and gas platforms. The UK also has 10 further large scale commercial floating offshore projects in the pre-planning stage.
On continental Europe, Norway has recently awarded areas to developers for the Utsira Nord (1,500 MW) project located in the North Sea. In Italy, while many floating offshore projects, such as the Ichnusa (504 MW) and Poseidon (1,008 MW) projects off the coast of Sardinia are under development, most of them are in the early stages. Sweden has a project also called Poseidon (1,400 MW) which is proposed in the Skagerrak strait on the Swedish west coast. French projects include the Sud-Bretagne 1 (250 MW) project proposed in South Brittany and the Méditerranée (2 x 250 MW) projects proposed in the Mediterranean.
Large scale projects will need to provide security for debt finance
Typically, shareholders of the project company will provide security over the shares in the project company and any shareholder loans. The secured lenders then have the means to control the project company if things begin to go wrong, and in most jurisdictions, the security can be more easily enforced than asset level security.
It should be noted, however, that enforcement of the share security may be affected if a corporate shareholder of the project company has financial difficulties. For example, there is a process called ‘administration’ under English insolvency law, which can halt any legal action against the corporate shareholder with the aim to rescue it or achieve better outcomes for its creditors.
At the project level, the security package typically covers:
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rights over the seabed through a concession or similar agreement (if possible);
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equipment and other physical assets;
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book debts, and bank accounts;
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rights in the project documents;
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authorisations and consents (if possible); and
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insurance policies.
The main reasons for taking security at this level is to prevent unsecured creditors from initiating insolvency proceedings, interfering with any restructuring and gaining rights to any proceeds from the assets until all secured claims have been settled.
In addition, there will typically be ‘quasi-security’, such as:
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completion guarantee – the project sponsor undertakes that if the project is not completed within a certain period, it will service the debt until completion;
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negative pledge – a promise not to grant any security to any third party;
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direct agreement – a tripartite agreement between the project company, the lenders and a contractual counterparty as regards the relevant project document which includes (1) a standstill period and cure rights to provide the lenders a chance to remedy any defaults and (2) step-in rights for the lenders allowing them to perform the obligations of the project company for a period; and
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collateral warranties – a contractual undertaking to the lenders from a construction company or supplier confirming that it has complied with all relevant professional standards in the provision of the relevant services and products.
So that security is enforceable against third parties, most jurisdictions require that the security interest is “perfected”. Perfection for security over the shares in an English project company is by delivery to the lenders of the share certificates together with signed (but undated) stock transfer forms and for a shareholder loan is by notice of the security to the relevant shareholder.
As regards perfection of project level security (if the security is granted by an English company), registration at Companies House is required. If the assets are located in England, security over real property further requires registration at the Land Registry and contractual rights further require notice to the relevant counterparty.
Long-term certainty for investment – importance of governments
Many European governments have played a leading role in facilitating private sector investment in floating offshore wind projects through introduction of policy and regulatory frameworks. While the details of these differ from country to country, they are intended to provide long-term certainty and to accelerate development in the shorter term – particularly important for technologies such as floating offshore wind which have yet to scale.
United Kingdom
The government published its ‘Clean Power 2030 Action Plan’ in 2024 setting out its plans to decarbonise the UK’s electricity system by 2030. As regards floating offshore wind, the UK policy is focused on transitioning from demonstration projects to commercial-scale floating offshore wind to help meet the national target of 5 GW of floating capacity by 2030.
The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland (which are independent commercial businesses that manage land owned by the Monarch other than their private property) award the exclusive rights to build and operate wind farms on specific areas of the seabed, often together with local supply chain requirements. The Crown Estate also carries out other activities such as the £50 million Supply Chain Accelerator Fund to help catalyse UK supply chain capacity and capability for offshore wind in the UK, and the Supply Chain Investment Programme to invest up to £350 million in construction of new port and supply chain infrastructure that will support accelerated delivery of UK offshore wind projects.
The awards by The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland are made through a formal, competitive process called a ‘Leasing Round’. Leasing Round 5, the latest announced in 2023 by The Crown Estate, was solely for floating offshore wind projects totalling 4,500 MW in the Celtic Sea (off the coast of South Wales). The ScotWind Leasing Round, the latest leasing by Crown Estate Scotland announced in 2021, awarded 12 separate floating offshore wind projects totalling 13,000 MW off the coast of Scotland. Crown Estate Scotland also launched an INTOG Leasing Round in 2022 which was for small-scale innovative projects of less than 100 MW (innovation element, ‘IN’) and larger-scale projects connected to oil and gas infrastructure (targeted oil and gas element, ‘TOG’).
Floating offshore wind projects can receive governmental funding support through contracts for difference (CfD). CfD are awarded by a competitive reverse auction process called an ‘Allocation Round’ in which developers submit their bids per MW hour, with bids being ranked lowest to highest. The lowest bids are all accepted until the budget for the relevant technology pot has been exhausted. Successful bidders are awarded CfD with strike prices equal to the bids. This sets a guaranteed price that the project will receive for the electricity generated by the project. If the project earns revenue more than the strike price, the project must return the difference between the strike price and the revenue, whereas if the project earns revenue below the strike price, the project receives the difference between the revenue and the strike price.
In the Allocation Round 6 carried out in 2024, indexed CfD were awarded to the Green Volt (560 MW) project at a strike price of £139.93/MWh (compared to an average strike price of £55.26 for fixed-bottom projects). The latest Allocation Round 7 auction in January 2026 allocated £180 million specifically for floating offshore wind projects and awarded indexed CfD with a longer duration (20 years rather than 15 years) at significantly higher strike price of £216.49/MWh (compared to an average strike price of £91. 03/MWh for fixed-bottom projects) to the Erebus (100 MW) and Pentland (92.5 MW) demonstration projects.
The Allocation Round 8 is expected to launch later in 2026. Developers investing in sustainable, local supply chains will also be entitled to apply for ‘Clean Industry Bonus’ which will be available as extra CfD revenue support.
The UK government also established in 2025 ‘Great British Energy’ (a publicly owned energy investment company) to invest £8.3 billion in renewable energy projects and the grid alongside private capital over the next five years to de-risk projects. The ‘National Wealth Fund’ was also established in 2025 to invest £1.8 billion on upgrading ports across the UK with a view to enable floating offshore wind development.
Norway
Norway’s floating offshore wind policy is designed to transition the country from a global oil and gas leader into a market-leading offshore wind country. The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) has identified 20 candidate areas for development to meet the target of 30 GW of offshore wind capacity (both floating and fixed bottom) by 2040.
The flagship project for floating offshore wind is the Utsira Nord area, which has a total planned capacity of 1.5 GW divided into three 500 MW sites. Two consortiums, being Equinor and Vårgrønn, and Deep Wind Offshore and EDF have been awarded project specific development rights through a qualitative competition. The main criteria included ‘cost level, realism and maturity’ and ‘execution capability’ (each, 35%), and ‘innovation and technology development’, ‘sustainability’ and ‘positive ripple benefits’ (each, 10%).
These two consortiums for the Utsira Nord area are due to compete in an auction for state investment support of up to NOK 35 billion (approx. €3 billion) expected to be held in 2027 or 2028. To be eligible, both consortiums are required to mature their plans through environmental studies and impact assessment and submit complete license applications. The competition will be by a sealed-bid auction with each consortium submitting one sealed bid and the winner is the consortium that is willing to develop the 500 MW floating offshore wind farm for the lowest amount of state aid support (within the NOK 35 billion envelope).
Beyond Utsira Nord, Enova which is a Norwegian government authority has a NOK 10 billion (appox. €850 million) scheme to support smaller-scale innovative floating wind projects. The aid will be distributed through competitive bidding rounds from 2026 through to 2030.
A core policy goal is using floating offshore wind to electrify offshore oil and gas platforms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Policy mandates include regular evaluation of impacts on the fishing industry and local communities, with discussions ongoing regarding a potential “ground tax” to share profits locally.
Sweden
The Swedish Energy Agency has outlined plans to enable 30 GW of offshore wind capacity to meet the national goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2040. Current policy also prioritises a nuclear revival, with plans for 10 new reactors by 2045, which may compete with offshore wind for state focus and grid capacity.
Heightened national security has resulted in Sweden’s policy toward offshore wind shifting away from a market-led ‘open-door’ system. In late 2024, the Swedish government rejected 13 out of 14 offshore wind projects in the Baltic Sea (totalling approx. 30 GW) as turbines were determined to interfere with radar and sensor systems, significantly reducing missile detection time. Sweden is now in a transition to a centralised and auction-based system.
Unlike its neighbours, Sweden currently does not offer CfD or similar revenue stabilisation for offshore wind.
France
The third draft Multiannual Energy Plan (Programmation pluriannuelle de l’énergie) published in February 2026, sets the current aims for 15 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2035. The target reaches 45 GW by 2050. Floating technology is central to these goals, as it allows France to exploit deeper waters in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
The development of a project in France requires the developer to win a tender. The tenders are launched by the minister in charge of energy based on tender specifications drawn up with the Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission de Régulation de l’Énergie), an independent administrative authority responsible for ensuring the smooth operation of the French electricity and natural gas markets for the benefit of consumers.
Tenders are carried out through a competitive dialogue, meaning that the government and the bidders discussed certain terms and conditions of the project before being issued the final version of the tender specifications. Projects are backed by CfD, a model which has been recently approved by the EU under an €11 billion state aid scheme.
Round 5 was launched in April 2021 for the Sud-Bretagne 1 (250 MW) project in Brittany, being the first tender in France for a floating offshore wind project and set the CfD reference price at €86.45/MWh in March 2024. Round 6 was launched in March 2022 for the Méditerranée (2 x 250 MW) floating offshore wind projects in the Mediterranean Sea with the CfD reference prices being set at €92.70/MWh and €85.90/MWh.
In April 2026, the government announced combining two tendering rounds (Rounds 9 and 10) to award around 5 GW of floating offshore wind power. The results are expected by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
The French operator of the public power transmission system Réseau de Transport d’Electricité is responsible for planning and constructing offshore grid connections, reducing the financial and technical risk for developers. Recent laws (such as the APER Law) will also help with their aim to halve project development timelines from 12 years to 6 years through streamlined public debates and environmental reviews.
Italy
Italy’s policy framework is transitioning from high-level targets to specific financial incentives and industrial support. The National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan 2030 (Piano Nazionale Integrato per l’Energia e per il Clima 2030) having defined the long-term decarbonisation path and forecasted 2.1 GW of offshore wind in operation by 2030.
The Primary Incentive Framework (FER2 Decree) is the cornerstone of Italian policy for innovative renewables. It aims to incentivise 3.8 GW of offshore wind capacity through competitive auctions. Projects compete for 25-year CfD, setting the starting auction price at €185/MWh. The government is expected to publish clear rules and a roadmap for the first major offshore tender in 2026.
The government is also investing in domestic industrial hubs to support the assembly needs of floating offshore wind platforms. A July 2025 decree designated the ports of Augusta and Taranto as primary offshore wind hubs. Approximately €78.3 million is allocated through 2027 to upgrade these ports for the production, assembly, and launch of floating offshore wind platforms.
Spain
Floating offshore wind technology is emerging as a promising solution due to the depth of Spain’s territorial waters, making fixed foundation projects a non-viable option in many cases. Spain aims to install 1 to 3 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
The government passed the Royal Decree 150/2023 in February 2023, approving the demarcation of five maritime areas for offshore wind development. Within these five areas, the government has identified 19 areas which have a high potential for the development of offshore wind energy projects (known as ZAPERs).
A Royal Decree 962/2024 passed in September 2024 established a single competitive bidding process for economic support, grid access and maritime concessions. The competitive bidding procedure will simultaneously grant economic support mainly as a CfD auction scheme, reserved access in the transmission grid and priority in the granting of concessions for the occupation of publicly owned offshore/onshore property. Despite the announcement that the first competition was expected by the end of 2025, the bid has not been launched yet.
Portugal
Portugal’s short continental shelf means the potential for installing offshore wind energy is much more significant for floating technology (estimated potential capacity up to 40 GW) than for fixed-bottom projects (estimated potential capacity up to 3.5 GW). The National Energy and Climate Plan for 2030 officially targets 2 GW of installed capacity for offshore wind (both floating and fixed bottom) by 2030.
The Offshore Renewable Energy Allocation Plan (Plano de Afetação para as Energias Renováveis Offshore; PAER) has identified approximately 2,000 km² of maritime space for development. Four main areas being Viana do Castelo, Leixões, Figueira da Foz and Sines. In early 2025, the total area was reduced by roughly 470 km² to mitigate impacts on local fishing industries and navigation corridors.
Following several delays, Portugal has adopted a centralised sequential model for its inaugural offshore wind tender. The auction is split into two phases: a pre-qualification stage based on technical and financial capacity, followed by a bidding stage for maritime area allocation and economic support. The formal seabed allocation process for up to 2 GW is expected to be launched in 2026.
Portugal has also recently signed rules for a ‘Technological Free Zone’ off Viana do Castelo. This 7.63 km² area allows developers to test innovative floating offshore wind technology with exemptions from grid access tariffs and simplified regulatory processes. The government is also investing €90 million in the ‘Hub Azul Portugal’ initiative to upgrade port infrastructure at Aveiro, Figueira da Foz, and Setúbal to support floating offshore wind supply chains.
Market outlook
The future for floating offshore wind in Europe looks positive, but the industry’s success depends on continued technological developments and supportive policy frameworks. These factors will be key in meeting the ambitious targets for deployment of floating offshore wind projects set by European governments and developers.
