Scotland looks to decarbonise North Sea oil and gas with new offshore wind auction
Crown Estate Scotland will launch a new leasing process for offshore wind farms to help decarbonise Scotland’s oil and gas sector. The announcement follows the opening of the Scottish Government’s consultation on a new planning process which will inform the areas to be made available for seabed leases.
In addition to enhancing the role that offshore wind can play in reducing the carbon emissions associated with North Sea energy production, this leasing should also help develop Scotland as a destination for increased innovation and supply chain opportunities linked to offshore renewable energy.
This process is entirely separate to the ScotWind Leasing round currently underway for commercial-scale offshore wind projects across Scotland and is specifically designed for offshore wind farms which support the decarbonisation of the oil and gas sector, as well as small scale innovation projects of less than 100MW.
Crown Estate Scotland plans to open the leasing process for applications in early 2022. Successful applicants will then be granted exclusivity over relevant areas of seabed, with final option agreements put in place following the adoption of the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas decarbonisation Offshore Wind Sectoral Marine Plan by the Scottish Government.
A further announcement will be made outlining additional information on the leasing process in November 2021.
