An auction
of seabed plots for major offshore wind projects around the Scottish coast has
netted £700m.
Seventeen
projects covering a total of 7,000km2 have been chosen in the first such
leasing round in a decade.
They have a
combined potential generating capacity of 25GW - well above the expected
auction outcome of 10GW.
Scotland has
1.9GW of operational offshore wind and another 8.4GW in construction or
advanced development many business listings.
The ScotWind
leasing auction attracted more than 70 bids from major oil companies,
utility firms, and investment funds from around the world.
· Will ScotWind auction deliver a renewables
revolution?
· ScotWind offshore wind auction attracts 74 bids
Most of the
sites are on the east, northeast, or northern coast, with just one on the
western side of Scotland.
Successful
bidders include Scottish Power, which won the seabed rights to develop three
new offshore wind farms with a total capacity of 7GW.
They include
two new floating projects in conjunction with Shell and one fixed project.
Crown Estate
Scotland awarded options for 17 sites around Scotland
The site map
key and lead winners:
1. BP Alternative Energy Investments
(2,907MW capacity)
2. SSE Renewables (2,610MW)
3. Falck Renewables (1,200MW)
4. Shell New Energies (2,000MW)
5. Vattenfall (798MW)
6. DEME (1,008MW)
7. DEME (1,008MW)
8. Falck Renewables (1,000MW)
9. Ocean Winds (1,000MW)
10. Falck Renewables (500MW)
11. Scottish Power Renewables (3,000MW)
12. BayWa (960MW)
13. Offshore Wind Power (2,000MW)
14. Northland Power (1,500MW)
15. Magnora (495MW)
16. Northland Power (840MW)
17. Scottish Power Renewables (2000MW)
Shell New Energies is the lead
applicant on the most expensive development, off the coast of Aberdeen,
estimated to cost £86m in option fees. BP Alternative Energy Investments and
SSE Renewables will each pay £85.9m in fees for two sites.
The auction
process was overseen by Crown Estate Scotland, with funds raised from the
process going to the Scottish government.
The winners
have now been offered option agreements that reserve the rights to specific
areas of the seabed.
They include
parts of the North Sea to the east of Angus, the outer Moray Firth, west of
Orkney, east of Shetland, and northwest of both Lewis and Islay business listings.
Scot Wind
represents a major sea-change in how we generate our electricity in Scotland.
By the time
they're all built, an estimated six million tonnes of carbon dioxide will be
prevented from entering our atmosphere each year. That's about an eighth of all
Scotland's emissions for 2019.
But we've
already largely decarbonized our electricity sector. So, why build more
offshore wind farms?
The inherent
unpredictability of the wind means we need masses of overcapacity to allow us
to keep the lights on when some of the turbines are not turning. But those
looking after the grid need to be cleverer than just building more turbines.
That means a
growing use of smart technology and increased storage - through batteries or
green hydrogen - will become critical in the coming years.
Crown Estate
Scotland chief executive Simon Hodge said: "Today's results are a
fantastic vote of confidence in Scotland's ability to transform our energy
sector.
"In
addition to the environmental benefits, this also represents a major investment
in the Scottish economy, with around £700m being delivered straight into the
public finances and billions of pounds worth of supply chain commitments."
'Historic
opportunity
First
Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the Scot Wind auction as a "truly
historic opportunity for Scotland's net-zero economies".
She added:
"The scale of opportunity represented in today's announcement exceeds our
current planning assumption of 10GW of offshore wind - which is a massive vote
of confidence Scotland."
Scottish
Renewables said the announcement was "an exciting and significant moment
in Scotland's renewable energy story" free business listings.
Chief
executive Claire Mack added: "The potential for 17 new projects creates
huge ambition for our sector to deliver on, and will require strong
collaboration to deliver maximum impact for our economy and environment."
The auction
was originally meant to close at the end of March last year but was delayed
after a parallel English and Welsh auction resulted in far higher prices
than expected.
At the risk
of losing out on hundreds of millions of pounds if it stuck to its original
auction price guidelines, CES raised the cap for the auction bids from £10,000
to £100,000 per square kilometer.
The Scottish
government has set a target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2045.
More on this
story
·
Will
Scot Wind auction deliver a renewables revolution?
·
Energy
giants bid to make Scotland first on wind power
·
Offshore
wind auction attracts dozens of bids
·
Bidders
'frustrated' by wind farms auction delay
Related
Topics
·
Wind
power
·
Isle
of Lewis
·
Orkney
·
Shetland
·
Isle
of Islay
·
Renewable
energy
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