The Crown Estate is to present its final tender design for the 7GW Round 4 offshore wind leasing competition next month.
The seabed landlord said it will hold an update on 18 July in London at which the process, bidding rules and commercial assessment mechanism will be revealed.
All of these have been “further refined” since an April update following feedback from the market and stakeholders.
A final announcement on the areas off England, Wales and Northern Ireland to be made available for leasing will be made later this year at the point of launch, CE added.
After the launch, a bidders information day will be held to give a “comprehensive overview of the final end-to-end process”.
This will ensure prospective participants have “sufficient time and information to finalise their bidding strategy ahead of invitation to tender”.
CE meanwhile returned £343.5m to the UK Treasury in the year to 31 March 2019, up 4.3% on the year-ago performance, driven partly by the growth of its offshore wind business.
Director of energy, minerals and infrastructure Huub den Rooijen (pictured) said: “Offshore wind has again been a key driver of our outperformance, supported by the continued progress of projects through key consenting milestones and into operation.
“We have been playing an active role in this sector for more than a decade, unlocking seabed rights to support the long-term sustainable development of the seabed and creating value for the nation’s finances.”
He added: “With continued appetite from government and the market, we’re looking ahead to facilitate the next phase of growth, putting the pipeline in place to meet electricity needs into the 2020s and beyond and supporting the UK’s continued position as a world leader in the offshore wind sector.”