The United Kingdom has once again put up for auction a site for the construction of an offshore wind farm, which was previously abandoned by the BP and Jera joint venture after an unsuccessful bid in the last renewable energy tender.

The Crown Estate has announced the launch of a new competitive selection process to choose a developer who will build and operate the Morgan wind farm, with a capacity of up to 1.5 GW in the Irish Sea. The streamlined procedure aims to allocate rights to the site by the end of this year.

Previously, the site was being developed by the Jera Nex BP joint venture and the German company EnBW, as well as a parallel project of similar scale called Mona. However, the developers failed to secure Contracts for Difference (CfD) for either site in the UK government’s latest AR7 auction, the results of which were announced in January.

Soon after, EnBW withdrew its 50% stake in each project, leaving Jera Nex BP to decide its next steps. Ultimately, Jera Nex BP acquired a 100% stake in the Mona project and withdrew from Morgan.

During a record-breaking round, the UK government awarded 8.4 GW of CfD contracts for offshore wind farms, with the greatest benefit going to another German company, RWE, which secured deals for several major projects.

The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed for England and Wales, announced last month that it would relaunch the tender for the Morgan project. On Friday, it was noted that the Morgan project has already reached significant development milestones, including obtaining a Development Consent Order, making it one of the most advanced offshore wind opportunities.

The Crown Estate stated that it is working with interested parties to preserve the progress already made on the project. The project is also awaiting a decision on a joint application for a transmission license with the 480-megawatt Morecambe offshore wind farm, with a decision expected in September.

The Morgan project is considered strategically important for the development of offshore wind energy in the UK. The launch of an accelerated tender gives developers the opportunity to continue work on a project that has already made significant progress in permitting and grid connection. This supports the preservation of renewable energy capacity, strengthens energy security, encourages investment, creates jobs, and drives growth throughout the UK’s offshore wind supply chain.