ScotWind Leasing results bring next generation of offshore wind farms one step closer

Crown Estate Scotland has today (January 17) announced the results of ScotWind, the seabed leasing round that will enable the next generation of offshore wind farms in Scottish waters.

The first offshore wind leasing in Scottish waters for a decade received a total of 74 bids, largely from members of Scottish Renewables, with 17 successful bidders confirmed.

Claire Mack, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, said:

“Today’s announcement on the outcome of the first ScotWind leasing round is an exciting and significant moment in Scotland’s renewable energy story, with offshore wind set to make a major contribution to bringing about our net-zero future. The potential for 17 new projects creates huge ambition for our sector to deliver on, and will require strong collaboration to deliver maximum impact for our economy and environment. The scale of commitment to Scotland’s supply chain outlined alongside today’s announcement creates an incredible platform for industrial transformation and revitalisation.  

“These lease offers add greatly to our existing pipeline of projects in construction and development. Scotland now has an extensive and attractive offshore market, and the most seabed dedicated to commercial floating wind development anywhere in the world. These 11 floating wind projects give Scotland a historic opportunity to create a major new sector to drive the blue economy, drawing on our deep water expertise and making a just energy transition a reality in the North Sea.

“Many congratulations to the winning companies, who were amongst a huge number of strong proposals to deliver the next generation of wind farms in Scotland’s seas. Many challenges lie ahead but I am delighted to see a range of both established and new faces who will invest so much over the coming decade to bring these projects to life.

“It is particularly exciting to see wind farms able to progress right around our coast, from Islay in the west, to Lewis and Orkney and right down the east coast. This means a new range of communities are set to benefit from the growing economic impact of the offshore wind sector. Throughout this leasing process bidders have put forward their plans to maximise their use of Scottish suppliers, and now the whole sector is able to move forward in a strategic way to invest for the long-term success of our ports and supply chain."

 

Ends

 

Notes:​

• Crown Estate Scotland's press release is available here.
• Scotland has 1.9GW of operational offshore wind, and another 8.4GW in construction or advanced development. The largest wind farm is the recently completed 950MW Moray East wind farm. Scotland also hosts the largest operational floating wind farm in the world, the 50MW Kincardine wind farm. The Scottish Government has an ambition for 11GW of offshore wind to be deployed by 2030.