The Crown Estate intends to initiate a competitive tender process in July 2026 to reintroduce the Morgan offshore wind site in the Irish Sea (United Kingdom) to the market, with the objective of awarding it to a developer in late 2026 (The Crown Estate press release, 08/06/2026).
The site is estimated to have the capacity to generate up to 1.5 GW. The Crown Esate noted that the Morgan project was initially allocated through Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 in 2021 before its development was halted in January 2026.
- In January 2026, Germany’s EnBW abandoned its plans for an offshore wind park at the Morgan site, stating that the project was no longer economically viable under its own criteria after failing to secure an award in the latest Contracts for Difference allocation round (AR7), alongside other external factors beyond its control (KEI, 19/01/2026).
The Morgan project obtained a Development Consent Order (DCO) for its wind assets in August 2025, and a decision is still pending regarding the DCO application for its transmission assets. This application was submitted jointly with the transmission infrastructure of the 480 MW Morecambe offshore wind park, with a decision now expected in September 2026.
The site currently holds a grid connection agreement with the National Energy System Operator (NESO). The press release added that further information regarding site conditions, the tender process, and the commercial framework will be shared with developers in the near future.
The Crown Estate recently emphasized in its 2025 UK Offshore Wind Report the “increasingly vital role” of the offshore wind sector in the UK’s energy mix, noting that it provided nearly one fifth (18%) of the country’s total electricity in 2025. According to additional data, wind power accounted for 30% of the UK’s electricity generation that same year.
The UK is currently the world’s second-largest country for offshore wind capacity after China, with a total of 15 GW operational in 2025 (Enerdata Global Energy & CO2 data).
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