Crown Estate Urged to Press Accelerator on Leasing Rounds

ReNEWS recently covered a Bracewell media roundtable where Partner Tracy London talked about offshore wind development, including a discussion on offshore wind developers urging the Crown Estate to press the accelerator as soon as possible on plans to release up to 30 GW of additional seabed rights in UK waters by 2030.

London argued the eight-year average lead time from permitting to first power for larger arrays made it “imperative” leasing “happens very quickly.”

According to reNEWS’ insiders, the seven-year window is already said to be too “tight” to have any meaningful impact on the country’s target of 50 GW by the end of the decade given the several years it has taken to run leasing Round 4 and Round 5.

Government officials had pledged in last month’s Autumn Statement to bring forward legislation to give the Crown Estate wider investment and borrowing powers. The seabed landlord said this was needed to fund extra leasing rounds.

On the overall offshore wind market, London added developers had encountered “stormy waters” but “market participants are expected to adjust to the new conditions in 2024.”

In 2023, global cost pressure and supply chain constraints took its toll on developers, prompting mitigation through proactive risk management such as index-linked contracts being used to safeguard against price volatility.