Irish Sea windfarm site going out to tender as Crown Estate hopes for new Morgan developer within months

Morgan site sits 30km off the Fylde coast

A huge windfarm site in the Irish Sea is set to go back out to tender again next month with the aim of naming a new developer by the end of the year.

The Morgan offshore wind site was originally brought to market through Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 in 2021, but in January the original developer pulled out.

The Crown Estate says it has since been reviewing options for the site, which it says could help create thousands of jobs and provide up to 1.5 million homes with “clean, homegrown energy”. It will launch a competitive tender process next month and plans to award the site to a developer in late 2026. More details about the site conditions, tender process and commercial model will be published soon.

The Crown Estate says the Morgan process is separate to Leasing Round 6, which is set to launch that year, and will not affect the timeline of that round.

The Morgan site sits some 30 miles off the Fylde coast. Cables would come onshore near Blackpool Airport and reach to Penwortham, Preston. A Development Consent Order (DCO) was secured for the windfarm in August 2025 and the Morgan team is now awaiting a decision on the DCO application for its transmission assets. A decision on that bid, a joint application with the transmission assets of the 480MW Morecambe offshore windfarm, is expected this September.

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.”