The Crown Estate has signed lease agreements for six UK offshore wind projects around the coastlines of England and Wales tendered under its Round 4 seabed auction.
The Agreements for Lease milestone will allow developers to progress work on the 8GW of sites including submitting development consent orders to the UK government.
Successful applicants include RWE with its 1.5GW Dogger Bank South West and 1.5GW Dogger Bank South East sites off Yorkshire, Green Investment Group and TotalEnergies’ 1.5GW Outer Dowsing east of the Humber Estuary, BP and EnBW’s 1.5GW Mona and 1.5GW Morgan projects off the coast of North Wales and Cumbria respectively, and Cobra and Flotation Energy’s 480MW Morecambe wind farm off Lancashire.
The Crown Estate will draw around £1bn in combined annual option fees from the project developers until they are ready to enter into a lease on their chosen site.
The developers have committed to at least three years of option payments, which will run for a maximum of 10 years.
These payments reduce as a project begins moving into a lease and ceases completely when a developer takes out a lease for the whole site, at which point they move to paying rent.
The milestone follows the Crown Estate’s final decision to proceed with the Round 4 sites in August 2022 and is the culmination of the leasing round which launched in autumn 2019.
Dan Labbad, CEO of The Crown Estate, said: “The UK’s offshore wind achievements to date are nothing short of remarkable, and this next generation of projects point to an even more exciting and dynamic future.
“Moving forward, working with our stakeholders to continue unlocking this value is what drives us, and we are more committed than ever to lead the way in ensuring this important benefit is realised for our environment and for the nation.”
The developers will now need to apply for development consent orders from the UK government and will likely take part in future Contract for Difference auctions before making final investment decisions.
RWE said it received a scoping opinion for both Dogger Bank projects in September 2022 and received an updated grid connection that will see electricity transported to a new National Grid substation near to its existing Creyke Beck substation.
The developer is currently engaged in site selection for onshore electrical infrastructure with shortlisted locations and routes to be published in a Preliminary Environmental Impact Report in spring 2023.
It plans to file an application for development consent in 2024.
Holger Grubel, EnBW’s head of portfolio development for offshore wind, meanwhile said that surveying and consenting activities for Morgan and Mona had started and are in a “good dialogue” with National Grid regarding a grid connection.
RenewableUK CEO, Dan McGrail, said: “This announcement represents a major step forward not just for these major offshore wind projects but also for the industry as a whole, as these lease agreements will strengthen our energy security, create jobs and support development of new UK supply chains.”
Katie-jo Luxton, the RSPB’s director of conservation, said: “Industry alone cannot tackle strategic issues around offshore wind development, including compensation for loss of wildlife – which, following today’s announcement, is now required for two internationally important areas.
“We need government leadership and collaboration to not only avoid nature loss but take steps to build resilience for thriving seas.”
Luxton said untested compensation schemes for nature, with no guarantee of success, are not a substitute for a planning system that avoids sensitive areas in the first place.
“Our seabird populations are struggling, and we are still counting the potentially massive cost of the ongoing Avian Influenza outbreak to our globally important colonies.
“There is a clear willingness in the energy sector, the Crown Estate and the governments of the UK to find answers that avoid harming wildlife.
“But until we have a comprehensive plan for the next decade and beyond, we are stuck in a cycle of schemes that come with avoidable problems for nature.”