Crown Estate Scotland have confirmed that all 17 successful ScotWind applicants now have option agreements in place meaning that their projects can move into the development stage.
It follows the announcement in January of the applicants who have been successful in a highly competitive process which attracted 74 applications. Full seabed leases are granted at a later stage once applicants have the necessary consents from regulators, such as Marine Scotland, and have secured grid connections and financing. A key focus of ScotWind is encouraging supply chain investment to develop the Scottish projects. In a world first, Crown Estate Scotland mandated that applicants must outline supply chain commitments as part of their application for an option agreement, with commitments then updated throughout development as project specifics such as timing and technology become clearer. Details of the 17 successful ScotWind applicants can be found here.