The Energy, Minerals & Infrastructure unit of The Crown Estate, which includes offshore wind, posted net revenue profit of £102.9m in the 2019/2020 financial year, up from £84.9m last year, according to the latest annual report.
An extra 1.6GW of offshore wind capacity was added in the year, bringing the total to 9.3GW, The Crown Estate said.
The report noted that a further 20.7GW of potential projects are in the pipeline as of 31 March this year.
Offshore renewables generated 32.7 terrawatt-hours of electricity last year, up from 25.3TWh in the previous FY.
The Crown Estate reported overall net revenue profit of £345m for the 2019/2020 FY, up 0.4% on the £343.5m posted the previous year.
Overall performance in 2019/2020 was ahead of the market with an annual total return of 1.4% against a bespoke benchmark of 0.5%, delivering the business’s 12th year of consecutive out performance, The Crown Estate said.
The latest results were driven primarily by disposals and re-gears in the Central London portfolio and continued growth in fully operational offshore wind farms, it said.
The value of The Crown Estate portfolio decreased by 1.2% to £13.4bn.
This was mainly the result of a revaluation loss of £552.5m or 17.0% in the Regional portfolio, reflecting the challenging retail market, it added.
Capital value is £14.1bn, down by 1.8% from 2018/19.
The Crown Estate chief executive Dan Labbad said: “Over the 2019/20 financial year, many of our real estate markets were already facing long term structural challenges, which have now been accelerated as a result of Covid-19.
“Against this backdrop, and the ongoing economic uncertainty, we have delivered a result for the year which reflects the underlying strength of our portfolio and the active approach of our team.
“Nonetheless, as we look ahead we are under no illusions about the challenges we face.
“Whilst it is too early to accurately forecast our performance for next year, we do expect our net revenue profit and property valuations to be significantly down.
“However, our resilient structure, established to operate in perpetuity and with no debt, coupled with our diverse portfolio, provides us with the means to navigate this current crisis, while continuing to invest for the long term.
“Before COVID-19, we began a deep review of our purpose and strategy to understand how we can actively embrace technology and respond to longer term issues like climate change, as well as immediate portfolio challenges such as the future of physical retail.
“This work is now more important than ever and fundamental to ensuring we are well positioned to create value in the broadest sense for our customers, partners and the nation for many years to come.”


