Crown Estate Scotland has announced that five offshore wind projects have now signed exclusivity agreements as part of the innovation strand of its INTOG leasing round.
INTOG (Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas) leasing aims to attract investment in innovative offshore wind projects in Scottish waters, as well as help decarbonise North Sea operations.
The INTOG process allowed developers to apply for seabed rights to develop projects that either reduce emissions from the North Sea oil and gas sector – by supplying renewable electricity directly to oil and gas infrastructure (TOG) – or consist of small-scale (IN) innovative projects of 100MW or less.
On 24 March it was announced that 13 projects – five for IN and eight for TOG – had been offered initial agreements, known as Exclusivity Agreements.
These will cover projects with a proposed capacity of up to 499MW for IN projects.
Meanwhile, Marine Scotland’s planning process for the INTOG Sectoral Marine Plan (INTOG SMP) is completed, Crown Estate Scotland confirmed.
If a successful proposed project is in the final INTOG SMP, an option agreement will be offered. This will help enable projects to continue through planning, consenting, and financing stages.
Responsibility for these next steps does not sit with Crown Estate Scotland, and projects will only progress to a full seabed lease once all these various development stages have been completed.
Option agreements are expected to be offered in 2024. To secure an option agreement, developers must provide a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS). Information from these Statements will then be published.
TOG projects are expected to sign their Exclusivity Agreements later this year.