Crown Estate Scotland has announced the results of the world’s first leasing round designed to enable offshore wind energy to directly supply oil and gas platforms.
Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas (INTOG) leasing aims to attract investment in innovative offshore wind projects in Scottish waters, as well as help decarbonise North Sea operations.
The process allowed developers to apply for seabed rights to develop offshore wind 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.
INTOG, which has been designed in response to demand from government and industry to help achieve the targets of the North Sea Transition Sector Deal through decarbonising North Sea oil and gas operations, should also further stimulate innovation in Scotland’s offshore wind sector, create additional supply chain opportunity and assist companies to enter the renewable energy market.
The successful applicants have now been offered initial agreements - called exclusivity agreements - that, if they accept the offers and proceed to sign them, enable them to start offshore wind development work while the Marine Scotland’s planning process for the INTOG Sectoral Marine Plan (INTOG SMP) is completed.
If a successful proposed project is in the final INTOG SMP, an option agreement will be offered. Projects will then go through planning, consenting, and financing stages.
A total of 13 projects were selected for exclusivity agreements from 19 applications - five for IN and eight for TOG - and once the Sectoral Marine Plan has been finalised and option agreements signed (expected 2024), around £262m in applicant fees will be secured.
Contract awards were determined on a largely open-auction basis and were judged on a mixture of price and quality.
The area of seabed covered by the IN projects is just over 139km2 and by the TOG projects 1534km2. Crown Estate Scotland will offer a seabed lease of 50 years for TOG projects and 25 years for IN projects.
Exclusivity Agreements will cover projects with a proposed capacity of up to 499MW for IN and 5GW for TOG.
Map reference |
Lead applicant |
Option Fees |
IN or TOG |
Total capacity (MW) |
1 |
Bluefloat Energy/Renantis Partnership | £5,401,360 | IN | 99.45 |
2 |
Bluefloat Energy/Renantis Partnership |
£7,107,900 |
IN |
99.45 |
3 |
Simply Blue Energy | £9,972,000 | IN | 100 |
4 |
BP Alternative Energy Investments |
£1,670,917 |
IN |
50 |
5 |
ESB Asset Development UK |
£3,137,000 |
IN |
100 |
6 |
Flotation Energy |
£54,893,102 |
TOG |
560 |
7 |
Flotation Energy |
£40,987,979 |
TOG |
1350 |
8 |
Cerulean Winds |
£67,200,066 |
TOG |
1008 |
9 |
Cerulean Winds |
£35,200,098 |
TOG |
1008 |
10 |
Cerulean Winds |
£35,200,098 |
TOG |
1008 |
11 |
TotalEnergies |
£200,000 |
TOG |
3 |
12 |
Harbour Energy |
£405,000 |
TOG |
15 |
13 |
Harbour Energy |
£405,000 |
TOG |
15 |
Total (rounded) |
£261,780,521 |
Colin Palmer, director of marine at Crown Estate Scotland, said: “Today’s results for this very distinctive and targeted leasing round are extremely encouraging.
“In addition to delivering economic and environmental benefits, INTOG will generate funds for the Scottish Government, from initial fees when option agreements are signed, to ongoing rent payments when the projects are constructed and move to operation.
“There are still significant challenges that need to be addressed to ensure INTOG’s many opportunities are realised fully, but today marks a real step forward.”
Net Zero and Energy Secretary Michael Matheson said: “The announcement from Crown Estate Scotland not only indicates that the INTOG initiative will provide a significant contribution to the public purse, but ensure the continuing growth and development of Scotland’s offshore expertise and wider supply chain, supporting a true just transition for our energy sector.”
Scottish Renewables’ chief executive Claire Mack commented: “ScotWind will be at the forefront of the drive to achieve Scotland’s net zero ambitions and must remain the priority as we see an increase in demand for resources and connections to the electricity network.
“We recognise that the marine planning process is already under significant pressure and urge the Scottish Government to ensure that appropriate resources are in place across key bodies to enable deployment of ScotWind and INTOG at the pace and scale required to achieve a secure, affordable, low-carbon energy system.”
North Sea Transition Authority chief executive Stuart Payne added: “Electrification of offshore platforms is essential if industry is to halve production emissions by 2030.
“Today’s announcement from Crown Estate Scotland marks an important milestone on the way to getting projects up and running, supporting the faster growth of offshore wind power in Scottish waters.”
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