The Crown Estate has announced plans to launch a competitive tender process next month for the Morgan offshore wind site in the Irish Sea, with the intention of awarding the lease to a new developer before the end of 2026.

A Site With Significant Capacity Returns to Market

The Morgan site, which carries the potential for up to 1.5 gigawatts of generating capacity, was originally brought to market as part of Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 in 2021.

Development was discontinued in January 2026, prompting The Crown Estate to undertake a review of the options available to return the site to active development. The organisation has now concluded that assessment and is preparing to open the tender process in July.

At full capacity, the site could provide clean energy to up to 1.5 million homes and is expected to support thousands of jobs. The Crown Estate has framed the relaunch as part of a broader national effort to expand domestic, clean energy generation and stimulate economic growth in an industry it describes as a key industrial sector for the UK.

Planning Consents and Grid Position Already in Place

The Morgan site arrives at market with a number of significant regulatory milestones already achieved, which may streamline the path for any incoming developer.

The site secured a Development Consent Order for its windfarm asset in August 2025, removing one of the most time-consuming hurdles facing offshore wind projects in the UK.

A further DCO application covering the site's transmission assets remains pending. That application was submitted jointly alongside the transmission assets of the 480-megawatt Morecambe offshore windfarm, and a decision is now expected in September 2025.

The site also currently holds a grid connection agreement with the National Energy System Operator, providing a prospective developer with a degree of certainty over network access that many competing projects lack.

Full details of the site conditions, the structure of the tender process, and the commercial model to be applied will be made available to developers shortly, according to The Crown Estate.

Tender Sits Outside Leasing Round 6 Programme

The Crown Estate has been explicit that the Morgan tender process is separate from its planned Leasing Round 6, which the organisation has previously announced its intention to launch in the first half of next year. The relaunch of the Morgan site is not expected to affect the timelines for that broader leasing programme.

The distinction is significant for developers and investors tracking the pipeline of offshore wind opportunities in UK waters. Leasing Round 6 is anticipated to open up new areas of seabed for development, while the Morgan tender represents an accelerated route to a site that has already navigated substantial parts of the planning and consenting process.

Crown Estate Frames Move as Part of Wider Sector Momentum

The announcement comes weeks after The Crown Estate published its 2025 UK Offshore Wind Report, which documented the sector's growing contribution to the national energy mix.

According to that report, offshore wind delivered nearly a fifth of the UK's total electricity in 2025, generating 52 terawatt hours over the course of the year, a volume described as sufficient to power 15.5 million homes. The report identified offshore wind as the UK's leading source of renewable energy.

Gus Jaspert, Managing Director for Marine at The Crown Estate, said that offshore wind is acting as a significant driver of clean, secure, domestic energy and economic growth.

He described the Morgan site as capable of playing an important role in advancing what he called the sector's national success story, and said The Crown Estate was pleased to be bringing the site back to market following a considered assessment of a range of options. Jaspert said the organisation looks forward to securing a new developer to realise the site's potential.

Timeline Points to Developer Award Before Year-End

The Crown Estate's stated intention is to complete the tender process and award the site to a developer in late 2026, meaning the process from launch to award is expected to span roughly five to six months.

The organisation has not yet disclosed the specific commercial terms or the criteria against which competing bids will be evaluated, but has indicated that further information will be released to the market shortly ahead of the July launch.

The Morgan site's existing consents and grid connection position it as an unusually advanced asset relative to the early-stage opportunities that typically emerge from new leasing rounds.

Those characteristics are likely to attract interest from developers seeking to accelerate project delivery in a policy environment that has placed considerable emphasis on expanding the UK's offshore wind fleet within this decade.

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