EDF Renewables and Equinor, Mainstream Renewables and Siemens, and Red Rock Power are among the 57 companies and consortiums which failed to be designated offshore wind acreage in Scotland's waters.
Crown Estate Scotland announced the 17 winning bids - from a total of 74 entered - in its ScotWind leading round, meaning a lot of energy suppliers and renewable technology specialists will now be looking elsewhere.
Red Rock Power expressed its “disappointment” in not being selected during the process, in which it formed a joint venture with Italian oil giant Eni.
Chief executive Guy Madgwick confirmed that the company will remain committed to the Scottish offshore wind sector and plans to bid in future renewable development project leasing rounds.
“We are naturally very disappointed by today’s results, but remain committed to the Scottish offshore wind sector and supporting Scotland’s net zero transition - we wish the winning bidders every success as they progress with their new developments.”
EDF, Siemens and Mainstream Renewable declined to comment.
A spokesman for Equinor said: “We do not have any specific comment to the outcome of ScotWind other than we would have liked to see a different result - we will await feedback from The Crown Estate Scotland before making an evaluation.
“We are taking a disciplined portfolio approach to growth.
“Going forward we will continue to evaluate potential bid rounds and opportunities in the UK and internationally in line with our strategy of accelerating profitable growth in renewables.”
A spokesman for Crown Estate Scotland said: "We assessed applications in line with the published criteria laid out at the start of the process, including project information such as concept, budget and deliverability, and developer information such as capability, experience and financial resources.
“The projects offered option agreements are those that best demonstrated their ability to deliver the best projects for the sites in question - it was an extremely competitive process and it was a painstaking effort to select the 17 successful projects that we have named.”
As for the winners, BP and Energie Baden-Wurttemburg ’s (EnBW) joint venture bagged the biggest acreage in the round, at 859km2. The project is expected to generate the largest source of electricity with 2,907 MegaWatts (MW).
It pledged £10bn to make Aberdeen its “global offshore wind centre of excellence” and as part of the project it will pay £85.9m to the Scottish Government.
BP's five-year financial commitment includes creating entry-level energy transition roles, alongside the re-skilling of hundreds of oil and gas workers and technicians with renewable sector capabilities.
SSE Renewables, alongside Japanese conglomerate Marubeni and Danish fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), won the second largest acreage, that is expected to generate around 2,610 MW.
The company will also pay £85.9m as part of the option fees.
It pledged a £15bn investment into the Scottish economy, with a £100m fund to directly invest into Scottish supply chain companies supporting the development of the projects.
Joint venture Falck Renewables will pay around £67m for its three winning projects. The consortium, made up of Quantum Energy Partners, Blue Float Energy and Ørsted, is expected to generate around 3,000 MW over its three developments.
Denmark's largest energy company pledged to invest up to £12bn directly with Scottish companies on developing and constructing offshore wind farms during the next decade.
ScottishPower has been awarded the seabed rights to develop three new offshore wind farms off the coast of Scotland – including two new floating wind farms being developed in conjunction with Shell.
The projects - with a total capacity of 7GW - will more than treble ScottishPower’s existing offshore wind pipeline from 3.1GW to 10.1GW.
The partnership between ScottishPower and Shell will pay £154.4m for the option fees to the Scottish Government.
Meanwhile, Vattenfall and Fred Olsen Renewables signed a memorandum of understanding with Green Marine and Leask Marine, alongside Orkney Harbour Authority, as part of its supply chain commitment to ScotWind last year. The group will pay £20m and develop 798MW over 200km2.
A joint venture between Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG), TotalEnergies and RIDG, secured rights to develop a 2,000 MW offshore wind farm project in the round.
The West of Orkney Windfarm will be located 30km off the west coast of Orkney in Scotland. The venture pledged to unlock £140m to support the development of the local supply chain, including the enhancement of ports and harbour infrastructure in Orkney and Caithness. The companies are expected to pay £65.7m.
Another consortium formed by marine energy group DEME will spend £38.7m over its two projects, building offshore wind that will produce more than 2,000MW of power.
The last multinational joint venture is Ocean Winds and Aker, which will pay £43.9m in option fees. It pledged a £15bn investment over its three proposed tenders in the Moray Firth. However, the group only won one of the three bids. It will build 1,000 MW of power over 429km2.
The joint venture committed a £235m investment package to support the renewable energy supply chain in Scotland.
Canadian renewable energy company Northland Power won its lease in the North West of Scotland, building 1,500 MW of electricity. It will pay £3.9m in option fees.
Norwegian Offshore wind developer Magnora will pay £10.3m in option fees for its approved project, building 500 MW worth of wind turbines, which it claims will generate 2.4 TerraWatts per year. It is hoping to have planning consent by 2026 with the final investment decision by 2028 and to start production by 2030.
Finally, BayWa r.e. UK will pay £33m in option fees to build 960 MW of power over 330km2 with its joint venture.
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