Audit Scotland has confirmed it will examine the Scottish government’s ScotWind leasing round which has raised more than £700m in option fees following the seabed auction in 2022.
The spending watchdog has begun “early scoping work” for the investigation which will conclude in October when a report will be published alongside a wider performance audit on renewable energy.
“We have recently started early scoping work on ScotWind and plan to report in Autumn 2026,” said an Audit Scotland spokesperson.
“We intend to confirm our scope next month.
“Our planned work will include engaging with Crown Estate Scotland and the Scottish government.”
The probe follows repeated criticism from opposition parties that Scottish ministers have used the revenue to shore-up day-to-day spending after the government confirmed that ScotWind cash has been allocated to support budgets over the next two years.
In October 2024, UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the SNP administration had “squandered” the auction proceeds and called ScotWind a “missed opportunity”.
Crown Estate Scotland said it welcomed the interest in ScotWind projects which it claimed would provide an average cash injection of £1.5bn per scheme into local supply chains.
A spokesperson added: “The Scottish government has already benefitted from £755m in option fees – which were for 10-year option agreements, not one-off sales – and will receive annual multi-million-pound payments once projects begin operating.
“In addition, the ambition of ScotWind offers Scotland the opportunity to become a world leader in fixed, floating and deepwater offshore wind and has underpinned the significant effort on supply chain investment within Scotland and across the UK in recent years.
“The potential long-term economic and social benefit to Scotland, of an industry of this scale, is transformational.”
The seabed landlord added that comparing ScotWind to processes and commercial arrangements in other countries is “not comparing like with like” due to factors including ground conditions and other operational challenges which influenced the tender design.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “ScotWind revenues give us the flexibility to invest in long-term benefits for Scotland and to help strengthen the limited financial levers we currently have under the Fiscal Framework from the UK government.
“We look forward to engaging with Audit Scotland once the full scope of their report is confirmed.”