The Crown Estate to launch tender for Morgan offshore wind site in the Irish Sea

The Crown Estate intends to launch a competitive tender process next month to bring the Morgan offshore wind site back to market, with a view to awarding it to a developer in late 2026.

The site with the potential for up to 1.5GW in the Irish Sea was brought to market through Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 in 2021 but development was discontinued in January 2026.

Since then, The Crown Estate has reviewed several options to return the site to market and enable the potential it has to provide up to 1.5 million homes with clean, homegrown energy and create thousands of jobs.

Morgan secured a Development Consent Order (DCO) for its windfarm asset in August 2025 and is awaiting a decision on the DCO application for its transmission assets, a joint application with the transmission assets of the 480MW Morecambe offshore windfarm, now expected this September.

The site currently has a grid connection agreement with the National Energy System Operator (NESO). Further details about the site conditions, tender process and commercial model will be made available to developers shortly.

This tender process is separate to Leasing Round 6 which The Crown Estate has previously announced its intention to launch in the first half of next year, and is not expected to impact on that programme’s timelines.

Gus Jaspert, Managing Director, Marine at The Crown Estate, said: “Offshore wind is a key industrial sector for the UK, acting as a significant driver of clean, secure, domestic energy and economic growth and Morgan can play an important role in advancing this national success story.

“We’re pleased to be bringing this site back to market, following considered assessment of a range of options, and look forward to securing a new developer to realise its potential.”

Last month, The Crown Estate’s 2025 UK Offshore Wind Report highlighted the increasingly vital role the sector is playing in contributing to the UK’s energy generation mix, delivering nearly a fifth (18%) of the nation’s total electricity in 2025. ​

Offshore wind remains the UK’s leading source of renewable energy, generating 52TWh in 2025 – enough to power 15.5 million homes.