Erebus scheme off Pembrokeshire coast backed in UK auction as Irish Sea port resilience plan published

PEMBROKESHIRE’S role in the next wave of offshore energy took a step forward on Wednesday (Jan 14) after a floating wind project planned off the county’s coastline secured UK Government backing — with ministers also publishing fresh recommendations aimed at improving resilience across Irish Sea ports.

RenewableUK Cymru said Blue Gem Wind’s Erebus floating offshore wind test and demonstration project in the Celtic Sea, off the Pembrokeshire coast, was among the successful schemes in the latest UK offshore wind auction.

The project is being positioned as an early proving ground for floating wind in the Celtic Sea — technology seen as key to unlocking larger developments later in the 2030s — and is expected to help build confidence, reduce costs and develop the skills and supply chains needed for bigger projects to follow.

For Pembrokeshire, the significance is not only the turbines offshore, but what comes with them onshore: ports, fabrication, logistics, marine services and long-term maintenance work.

Milford Haven, already one of Wales’s most strategically important ports and energy hubs, is expected to be central to any future Celtic Sea build-out — both in terms of supply-chain opportunities and the infrastructure needed to support new offshore industries.

RenewableUK Cymru said Wales secured two offshore wind successes in the auction, including Erebus in the south-west and RWE’s Awel y Môr off North Wales, representing around £2.6bn of investment opportunity and enough clean electricity to power almost one million homes. The projects are expected to be delivered around 2030–31.

On the same day, the Welsh and Irish governments published recommendations from the Irish Sea Resilience Taskforce, set up after the temporary closure of Holyhead Port in December 2024 caused major disruption.

Although Holyhead is in North Wales, the Taskforce’s work is being seen across the sector as a reminder that Welsh ports are critical national infrastructure — and that resilience, contingency planning and clear communication matter when services are disrupted.

The recommendations include steps aimed at improving contingency plans to protect passenger connectivity and manage disruption better, as well as a commitment to an annual bilateral meeting between Irish and Welsh transport officials.

Ireland’s Minister of State with responsibility for international and road transport, logistics, rail and ports, Seán Canney, said the Taskforce had strengthened relationships between departments and would continue through annual meetings and regular communication.

Wales’s Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates, said discussions had reinforced the importance of Irish Sea-facing ports to communities in Wales and Ireland, and the shared responsibility to ensure they “thrive and grow”.

Taken together, the announcements point to a clear theme for Pembrokeshire: Wales’s ports are being asked to do more — supporting new industries such as floating offshore wind, while also strengthening resilience and response planning for the disruptions that can hit major sea links.

For Milford Haven and the wider Haven Waterway, the question now is how quickly local infrastructure, contractors and training pathways can align with the emerging offshore wind opportunity — so that as projects scale up in the Celtic Sea, more of the jobs and investment are anchored in Pembrokeshire.

FIRST MINISTER PUSHED ON “PALTRY” FUNDING AND HS2 FALL-OUT IN SENEDD EXCHANGE

WALES’ First Minister Eluned Morgan has insisted it is “damn right” Wales should press the UK Government for more rail funding, as she faced criticism in the Senedd over what Plaid Cymru described as a “paltry” settlement.

During First Minister’s Questions on Tuesday (Jan 13), Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth challenged Labour’s record on rail and accused the Welsh Government of being too deferential to Westminster, saying Scotland had been able to secure more capital spending from the UK Government.

He told the Senedd it had been six months since the First Minister had said she was “at the table and getting things done” on fair funding, claiming the evidence suggested otherwise. He also raised concerns about the UK Government seeking to influence how some funding is spent in Wales, and asked what she was confident she could persuade Prime Minister Keir Starmer to deliver to Wales between now and May.

Replying, the First Minister said: “Do I want more rail funding from the UK Government? Damn right I do… Have I been silent about that? No, I have not.”

She said Wales had received “£435m additional money” compared with what it received under the Conservatives, but accepted it was not enough, adding that there would be “a pipeline” of further investment in future.

The exchange comes against the backdrop of longstanding arguments over rail investment in Wales—particularly around HS2, which has been treated for funding purposes as an “England and Wales” project despite no HS2 track being built in Wales.

The Welsh Government has previously estimated Wales has missed out on £431m in rail funding consequentials linked to HS2 between 2016-17 and 2025-26. Other estimates have suggested the overall shortfall could be substantially higher over a longer period.

A separate UK Government announcement last year set out £445m for rail improvements in Wales, though questions have remained about exactly where and when the money would be spent.

In December, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said £78m of that pot would go towards Cardiff Central, with further detail expected in the new year following discussions through the Wales Rail Board.

For west Wales, the debate matters because rail investment decisions affect connectivity to Swansea, Cardiff and beyond—links relied on by commuters, students, hospital visitors and businesses across Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire.

Wales activated strategic response 31 times in 2025, with new crisis model due in autumn 2026

FIRST MINISTER Eluned Morgan has said Wales has “significantly strengthened” the way government and emergency services prepare for and respond to major incidents, as she published the Welsh Government’s second six-monthly progress update following the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 1 report.

In a written statement issued on Wednesday (Jan 14), Morgan said the Wales Resilience Framework and its delivery plan — announced in May 2025 — continues to guide work to improve risk assessment, strengthen readiness and response capability, and build community resilience, with a particular focus on the impacts of emergencies on vulnerable people.

The update follows the UK Inquiry’s Module 1 findings on the UK’s resilience and preparedness, which made a series of recommendations aimed at improving civil emergency planning and pandemic readiness. The Welsh Government published its formal response to Module 1 in January 2025 and provided a first six-monthly update in July 2025.

Morgan said that over the last two years Wales has consolidated and strengthened coordination between government and emergency responders, describing a “Team Wales” approach built around a shared risk picture, clearer joint protocols, joint training and exercising, and active oversight.

Response activated 31 times in 2025

The First Minister said Wales activated its strategic response arrangements on 31 occasions in 2025 to support national and local multi-agency coordination. She said stress-testing those arrangements in real incidents and exercises had delivered faster mobilisation and more coordinated communications during incidents including water outages, flooding, cyber attacks and wildfires.

New crisis model being developed

Responding to the Inquiry’s recommendation about leadership for prolonged, whole-system emergencies, Morgan said Wales uses a “lead department” model underpinned by subsidiarity — taking decisions at the lowest appropriate level, while coordinating at the highest necessary level.

She said ministers also recognise the model can have limitations during prolonged emergencies, and that a cross-government group has been established to develop an alternative approach for enduring whole-system crises.

That work will inform a Welsh Government Crisis Management Concept of Operations (CONOPs), which the statement said will be published in final form in autumn 2026 following consultation with partners and independent review.

Better data on vulnerability

The statement also highlighted work to improve risk assessment and the identification of vulnerable groups during emergencies.

Morgan said a dedicated team is enhancing the Welsh Government’s JIGSO data platform, hosted on DataMapWales, which is used during emergency responses and planning. The statement said JIGSO can enable secure access to sensitive information — including data drawn from Dŵr Cymru’s Priority Services Register — to help emergency services and resilience partners prioritise support to properties and households classed as at risk.

Pandemic exercise findings due late 2026

Morgan confirmed Wales took part in Exercise PEGASUS, a UK-wide “Tier 1” pandemic preparedness exercise involving all four nations, testing response arrangements across phases of emergence, containment and mitigation, with a recovery phase continuing into 2026.

A report setting out findings and learning from the exercise is expected to be published in late 2026, the statement said.

Health data upgrades and modelling strategy

The First Minister said Wales has established a data, evidence and analytical team to integrate data into emergency planning and response, and has signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK National Situation Centre on reciprocal data provision during crises.

The statement also said up to £2.29m in 2025–26 was awarded to Public Health Wales to transform its core health protection digital system, with the first phase scheduled to complete in March 2026, and that work is continuing on the Welsh Emergency Care Data Set, with full adoption still targeted for autumn 2026.

Senedd scrutiny

The Welsh Government has also provided an evidence paper to the Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee ahead of a scrutiny session with the First Minister on Thursday (Jan 15).

Response from other parties

No formal responses from opposition parties to Wednesday’s written statement were available at the time of writing.

The statement said the Welsh Government will continue to work with the UK Government and devolved administrations on UK-wide emergencies, including through four-nations resilience structures.