Crown Estates Scotland today announced 17 offshore wind projects have been granted development licenses for 24.8GW of electricity generation. This is Scotland’s first award since the devolution of development rights and comes just a few months after Scotland hosted the world’s biggest climate change conference COP 26 in Glasgow.

“In addition to the environmental benefits, this also represents a major investment in the Scottish economy, with around £700m being delivered straight into the public finances and billions of pounds worth of supply chain commitments,” said Simon Hodge, Chief Executive of Crown Estates Scotland. “The variety and scale of the projects that will progress onto the next stages shows both the remarkable progress of the offshore wind sector, and a clear sign that Scotland is set to be a major hub for the further development of this technology in the years to come.” 

Ten of the projects are for floating offshore wind. In this type of wind farm turbines sit on a floating platform tethered to the seabed. One project is a mixed development and six are for fixed foundation offshore wind projects.

This award is the first stage of the long process as projects must navigate through consenting, financing, and planning stages. Responsibility for these stages does not sit with Crown Estate Scotland, and projects will only progress to a full seabed lease once all these various planning stages have been completed.