ScotWind Program Expands With Three More Floating Wind Leases

Crown Estate Scotland has opened up lease areas for three more applicants from the giant ScotWind leasing round completed earlier this year. The "clearing" process awards lease agreements for floating wind mooring to three applicants who did not receive the areas they bid on during the initial lease auction. 

The lease areas are located east of the Shetland Islands and total some 2.8 gigawatts in overall scale. They will bring in a total of about $65 million in option fees for the Crown Estate, plus local investment commitments of about $1.4 billion per gigawatt of capacity. Notably, all three would focus on green hydrogen production rather than grid supply. 

“These projects have significant potential to really boost Scotland’s progress towards its net zero targets, including in relation to the opportunity around green hydrogen," said Colin Palmer, Director of Marine at Crown Estate Scotland. “Taking these three into account, the 20 ScotWind projects now total up to 27.6 gigawatts." 

ScotWind was the largest single offshore wind lease auction ever conducted, and it continues to expand with clearing leases. Since Scotland already gets almost all of its electricity from renewables, some of the power will go towards the manufacture of green hydrogen, accelerating the UK's energy independence. It is also a vital part of Scotland's plan to transition the economy of its northeastern coast from its longtime focus on offshore oil and gas to a new industry in offshore wind.

"The importance of accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources, including hydrogen, has been brought into sharp relief by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the cost of living crisis," said First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in a statement. "The Scottish Government sees offshore wind – and the hydrogen production which we hope will be enabled by offshore wind – as one of the most important economic and environmental opportunities we have."

All of the projects awarded in the ScotWind round are still subject to permitting reviews, financing and final investment decision before steel goes in the water.