Project Collette

Offshore wind is the only technology available at sufficient scale to deliver Clean Power by 2030. NESO, 2024

We are excited by the Government’s plans to significantly increase the UK’s renewable energy capacity by 2030 – doubling onshore wind, tripling solar and quadrupling offshore wind (new target of 55GW) and a zero-carbon grid for 2030. 

We will explore how Project Collette might apply for the Local Power Plan’s low-interest loans that will be available to community groups, as well as GB Energy with its commitment to develop 8GW of renewable energy by 2028. However, to properly transform and electrify the energy system, planning bottlenecks need to be resolved and poor grid infrastructure upgraded.  

The UK has 14.7 GW operational offshore wind capacity – the 2nd-largest after China. The total pipeline, also under construction/ committed or in earlier planning stages = up to 93 GW. Cumbria is already contributing 1.83 GW of installed offshore wind capacity, with six offshore wind farms along our Irish Sea coast, plus two more as part of Robin Rigg in the Solway Firth. In 2020, these wind farms generated 11% of the UK’s total electricity.

As part of our feasibility study, we investigated 3 potential areas. We recommend that Project Collette is sited on a level with Sellafield, approximately 20-30km from the Cumbrian coast in the Irish Sea. The choice of the site was based on various factors such as water depth, stability of the seabed, and impact on the local environment.

It will take between 7 and 12 years before Collette’s wind turbines start turning. To break this down, it takes three to five years for the feasibility, development and planning work, one to three years for the pre-construction phase and then four to eight years to build. The project is currently at the pre-feasibility and exploratory stage.

Collette will be a £3.3 billion CAPEX (including contingency) investment, with a predicted lifetime of 30 years. In 2024, we have been working on the initial finance model, and we expect it will be funded to start with by the government and philanthropic grants and then financed by UK equity (including crowdfunding) and debt (from project finance lenders). There will be a specific opportunity for local people to own a slice of Collette. But not at the start as we do not want the community to take on any risk.

A community energy project tends to mean that the assets are jointly owned, operated, and controlled by members of a community and the project developers/operators. Communities have already come together to co-fund other types of renewable energy schemes across the UK and these projects are generating returns for local investors. They can provide things like discounts on energy bills for residents or members of the scheme and grants for local community projects.

The community in West Cumbria will be part of the decision-making about how the financial returns from the project will be distributed and spent. We want to understand your priorities and aspirations for the local area so that the money goes where it’s needed most.

The Project will create thousands of jobs in the supply chain and hundreds of local jobs in the construction phase. Slightly less in long-term operations. For example, about 250 people are currently employed in the operation and maintenance of the Walney Extension wind farm.

The jobs will be wide-ranging, and some would be highly skilled, from electrical and civil engineers, project managers, turbine technicians and welders. School leavers, apprentices, as well as workers leaving fossil fuel industries will be invited to join us. We’d also encourage women to join Collette’s workforce – as right now, women only make up 18% of the offshore workforce.