Crown Estate Scotland has unveiled proposals to lease seabed to encourage a new generation of offshore wind projects in Scotland’s waters. The paper, published, outlines the draft process and asks those interested to feed back to help shape the final approach.
Projects will have to be sited in areas identified in Marine Scotland’s forthcoming Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind. This proposed offshore wind leasing process aims to support supply chain development and sector innovation, create jobs and stimulate economic growth. The paper outlines a provisional design for a complete leasing package. The design aims to strike a suitable balance of allowing flexibility to developers, in a way which is acceptable to a wide range of stakeholders, while unlocking wider benefits. Following feedback on the Discussion Document, Crown Estate Scotland plans to launch its final leasing process late 2018 or early 2019.