LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - Equnior and Gwynt

Glas, a joint venture between EDF Renewables UK and ESB, have

won seabed leases to build floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea

off the coast of Wales and South West England, The Crown Estate

said on Thursday.

Britain is aiming to largely decarbonise its electricity

sector by 2030 to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and drive

down cost and is seeking to increase offshore wind capacity to

43-50 gigawatts (GW) by the end of the decade, from around 16 GW

at present.

"Floating offshore wind will be transformative for economic

growth in Wales and the South West, unlocking thousands of jobs

in places like Port Talbot and Bristol, bolstering our energy

security and delivering industrial renewal," Britain's Energy

Secretary Ed Miliband said in the Crown Estate press release.

The Crown Estate, which acts as manager of the seabed around

England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said Equnior and Gwynt Glas

had both won leases giving them the rights each to build 1.5

gigawatt (GW) floating wind projects in its latest seabed

leasing round.

The companies will pay 350 pounds ($468.55) per megawatt per

year for the leases, the Crown Estate said, meaning both groups

will pay 525,000 pounds per year for the sites excluding VAT.

Floating wind projects can be installed in deeper waters

than fixed-bottom foundations, harnessing stronger and more

continuous wind to generate more power.

The Crown Estate is an independently run, commercial

business, whose profits go to the Treasury but its profits are

also used as the benchmark for the level of public funding for

the Royal Family.

($1 = 0.7470 pounds)