Wind devices gathering data for floating turbines in Celtic Sea

The buoys will gather data over the next year

Two wind measurement buoys have been placed in the sea as a step towards generating power from floating turbines.

The devices are about 60 miles off Cornwall and use laser technology to measure wind speeds and direction.

It is hoped the data they provide will attract developers and make it easier to install offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea.

The 5.1m (17ft) high buoys were deployed from Falmouth this week.

They have been funded using a £6m grant from the EU and are expected to remain offshore for one year.

Steve Jermy, chief executive at Celtic Sea Power, said: "It's a terrific opportunity for Cornwall and the wider South West.

"In the G7 conference we were talking about 9,000 jobs for 1 gigawatt (GW), we are now talking about 2.5 gigawatts deployed before 2030.

Steve Jermy said floating wind farms could generate thousands of jobs in the South West

"So, you can just multiply up those figures to give you a sense of what the opportunity is like. It feels a bit like the North Sea oil and gas industry must have felt like in the 1960s and 70s."

The Crown Estate has a target of generating four GW of energy from Celtic Sea wind turbines by 2035.

Mr Jermy added: "Full power on the grid requires 43 gigawatts so you can see if we've got four gigawatts that's a significant contribution.

"We think that in the Celtic Sea there is somewhere north of 150 gigawatts worth of power, so it gives you a sense of what the opportunity would be for Britain."