The wind is not ours; how Wales was left out of its own energy future
The Celtic Sea; power, profit & possibility
On 19 June 2025, The Crown Estate announced – in English only – what it calls a “new frontier” in UK offshore wind development, partnering with Norwegian energy giant Equinor and Gwynt Glas to advance two floating offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea. These developments promise a combined generation capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW)—a significant potential contribution to low-carbon electricity in the UK.
But beneath the clean energy headlines lies a familiar undercurrent: wealth and control flowing out of Wales, yet again.
Equinor, majority-owned by the Norwegian government, brings deep experience in offshore platforms. Gwynt Glas, meanwhile, is a joint venture between EDF Power Solutions UK & Ireland (a wholly owned subsidiary of French state-owned EDF Energy) and ESB, which is 95% owned by the Irish government.
So where does that leave Wales, a nation of profound wind potential and persistent economic deprivation?
What does this mean for Wales?
Wales has publicly committed to addressing the climate emergency, embedding sustainability and decarbonisation in law through the Well-being of Future Generations and Environment Acts, and through statements on the Nature and Climate Emergencies. Floating offshore wind, ideal for the deeper waters of the Celtic Sea, is poised to play a critical role in this transition. At full capacity, these two farms could meet the electricity needs of over 2.5 million homes.
This is, on paper, a remarkable contribution. But who owns the wind?
At present, Wales does not. With profits largely flowing to external state-owned corporations, and leasing fees heading to London via The Crown Estate, the deeper structure of the energy system remains deeply assymetric: Wales provides the resource, others take the return.
Unlearned lessons
Wales remains the poorest part of the UK. Historically, its coal, slate, water – and now wind – have enriched others. This pattern of extraction without sovereignty persists because current UK legislation does not mandate local or community ownership in energy projects, despite evidence from elsewhere that shared ownership can make a substantial difference to perceptions of develop; for example Denmark, where the 2009 Renewable Energy Act requires developers to offer at least 20% local ownership of wind projects.
In October 2023, the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICW) recommended a Renewable Energy (Wales) Bill to mandate community ownership provisions in all future projects. Without such legislative change, renewable energy may become yet another chapter in Wales’ long history of disinheritance of our energy resources.
This isn’t only a technical or economic issue, it’s a relational one. When local communities hold a stake in energy systems, acceptance rises, conflict drops, and the social fabric strengthens. It’s not just about clean electrons; it’s about energy justice.
But so far, only community organisations (many coming under the umbrella of Community Energy Wales), and Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru, are developing shared, or entirely locally owned, projects. Major developers have shown little appetite to share.
A relational transition would require not just technological innovation, but the redistribution of power in every sense. Our recommendation would require shared ownership models for all new projects, supporting a just transition and contributing to a number of goals for the Well-being of Future Generations Act.
Without ownership of projects, the lifetime opportunity for the people of Wales to benefit from renewable energy vanishes.
The Crown Estate; keeper of Wales’ wind
Control over the seabed belongs not to Wales, but to The Crown Estate, a body headquartered in London whose duty is to maximize returns for the UK Treasury. In 2024–25, it returned £1.1 billion in net profits, derived in part from offshore wind leases. The Sovereign Grant, which funds the Royal Family, is indexed to this profit, set to rise from £86 million to £132 million next year.
Unlike the Scottish Crown Estate, which has a mandate to reinvest in Scotland, The Crown Estate in Wales has no such requirement. Investments in England include £1.5 billion for Cambridge Business Park and £490 million for London real estate. No similar investment has been committed to Wales.
“to invest in property, natural resources and people to create lasting value for Scotland”
The Crown Estate Scotland mandate
So while the wind blows off the Welsh coast, the wealth is set to follow the cables east (or west, in the case of ESB).
Time for a change?
The Future Generations Act does not bind The Crown Estate. Its mandate does not prioritize the well-being of Wales, despite profiting from its waters.
That is why we are reiterating our 2023 call for devolution of Crown Estate powers to Wales, mirroring Scotland’s model.
Further, we call upon Welsh Government to accept that a Welsh Renewable Energy Bill mandating shared ownership is essential, not only to spread benefits more equitably, but to create a truly just transition that aligns with the relational vision embedded in Welsh law and values.
If Wales is ever to fulfill its potential we need to ensure that our natural resources are used for the benefit of the people of Wales.
Additional notes
Image by Sandra Weeteling and used under the Unsplash licence. Locally based, open source AI was used to help draft this post.
