The UK Crown Estate has published two blueprints to support nature recovery, enable growth in critical marine sectors and potentially lease an additional 20-30GW offshore wind by 2030.
Amid increasing demands on the seabed, the new Marine Delivery Routemap sets out a long-term and holistic view of how it can be used by identifying areas for biodiversity, nature restoration and other economic activities such as carbon capture.
Developed with other partners and agencies using the Crown Estate’s spatial mapping and digital expertise, the Routemap is designed to provide visibility and certainty for developers and support the economic development of onshore communities by providing a long-term view of the investment needed for key enablers like ports, skills and the supply chain.
The seabed landlord for England, Wales and Northern Ireland said it also hopes the document can accelerate the deployment of offshore wind, helping address key pinch-points such as consenting and grid connections.
The development of a Routemap was a key recommendation of last year’s report by Electricity Networks Commissioner Nick Winser. A series of sector-specific updates are due to follow to examine how they can evolve over the years ahead.
The Crown Estate has also published the Future of Offshore Wind report as part of its partnership with Great British Energy to bring to market 20-30GW of offshore wind leasing opportunities by 2030.
The report suggests that most new capacity is expected in the Celtic Sea and areas off north-east and south-west England with some smaller projects also likely off Wales, north-west England, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. However, the precise approach to development remains under consideration and the Crown Estate is seeking feedback and engagement from industry to determine how best to move forward.
The report also sets out further proposals for de-risking the opportunities for developers and accelerating delivery of wind farms out to 2040.
This includes the Crown Estate’s intention to play a greater role in directly investing in enabling infrastructure as legislation continues to be debated in Parliament to hand the seabed landlord greater borrowing and investment powers.
Crown Estate marine MD Gus Jaspert said: “With increasing demands and pressures offshore, we need a forward plan to release the true potential of our seas.
“Our plans for a Marine Delivery Routemap mark an important step towards a more coordinated, long-term approach to managing the increasing demands off our coast in partnership with a range of industries and stakeholders.
“In addition, our evolving approach to offshore wind development is designed to help remove some of the barriers to deployment of important new renewable energy and provide more certainty to investors. We look forward to engaging with our partners as we move these plans forward in the national interest.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “The sustainability of our seabed is critical to securing the UK’s energy independence alongside protecting the environment, so I welcome the ambitious plans set out by the Crown Estate.
“Our groundbreaking partnership between Great British Energy and the Crown Estate will not only be instrumental in supporting this vision for the UK’s seabed, but it will also help leverage up to £60 billion of investment for our clean power mission – delivering homegrown energy and generating skilled jobs across Britain.”
RenewableUK CEO Dan McGrail added: “The industry is fully committed to building projects in an environmentally sensitive way which protects and enhances our rich marine biodiversity and continues to take account of the needs of other seabed users.
“The Crown Estate’s role is evolving significantly, and the vision set out in its Future of Offshore Wind report will help all partners to work together more closely to make the most of our terrific marine resources, as well as enabling the industry to ramp up the delivery of vital new projects faster.”