Application Process for a Lease Option / Lease for Deployment of a Demonstration or Pre-Commercial Wave or Tidal Energy Device

Introduction

Those wishing to deploy a wave or tidal energy device in UK waters or the Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) beyond 12 nautical miles need to obtain permission from The Crown Estate (as owners of the seabed out to the 12 nautical mile territorial limit and with rights in the REZ) in the form of a seabed lease or site option agreement.

To date we have leased areas of seabed to the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) for their wave and tidal test facilities and agreed terms for the SeaGen demonstration tidal stream energy project at Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland. We also expect to soon complete a lease with Wave Hub for a wave test facility off the north coast of Cornwall.

Given the nature and current status of this new industry we are currently only considering the deployment of demonstration and pre-commercial devices.

Any developer wishing to deploy a device should be able to demonstrate they have the financial, technical and environmental capability to implement the project. Such information must be made available to The Crown Estate, typically in the form of a business development plan.

In the first instance, any developer considering deployment of a device should contact The Crown Estate to discuss their project proposal and potential device location. This is important as it will allow us to perform an initial check on the site, to identify any other Crown Estate interests in the area and ensure there are no conflicting interests at the site under consideration.

We expect any developer to have some prior knowledge of the deployment site, including bio-physical characteristics, environmental sensitivities and other sea uses, as this will indicate why they have chosen this particular site against other options, and why it is the best site for the demonstration of the technology under consideration. Developers will be required to present their business development plan to the marine estate.

Following identification of a potential location and discussions with the marine team, and prior to deployment of a device, the developer may be invited to apply in writing to The Crown Estate for a lease option agreement for the identified site. If a lease option agreement is granted it will be time limited and can only be exercised once the device is ready to be deployed and all the necessary statutory consents for the project have been obtained from the relevant government regulator(s).

Application for Site Lease Option Agreement

We encourage developers to contact us at an early stage in the development of their project proposals. Granting of a lease option agreement will only be considered upon submission of a written application accompanied by a site survey report, options appraisal and a robust business plan. It must be noted that these will need to satisfy the minimum requirements indicated below, and submission alone will not automatically result in a lease option agreement.

The Site Survey Report must as a Minimum:

• Demonstrate to The Crown Estate’s satisfaction that the site is suitable for secure deployment, operation (including any cabling and grid connection requirements), maintenance and removal of the device in question, with respect to substrate, bathymetry, hydrography and oceanographic conditions.
• Detail what other sites have been considered and why an application is being made for a specific site. The developer will need to indicate and highlight any environmental considerations and indicate how potential environmental impacts will be taken in to account and managed along with other users of the sea and seabed in the immediate area of the proposed site.

The Business and Development Plan must as a Minimum:

• Provide a timetable of development milestones leading up to deployment of the device, including the application for all necessary consents.
• Specify term of lease requested (and the rationale for the term).
• Demonstrate that finance and resources have been secured sufficient to support development, deployment, operation and removal of the device and any associated infrastructure such as grid connection.
• Indicate what arrangements are proposed to be put in place for electrical connections.
• Include the EIA methodology, including proposed scoping with consultees and a programme of stakeholder consultation.
• Provide details of any research and monitoring planned during deployment.

In our assessment of the financial aspects of the project we will require that bank details and company financial reports are made available to enable verification of financial status. Provision of financial security to cover the removal of the device should be considered within the business plan.

If a lease option agreement is granted it will incorporate timetabled development milestones leading up to deployment, which if not met, may render the agreement void, at our discretion. These milestones will be based upon the submitted business and development plan and discussions with the marine team at The Crown Estate. Whilst the lease option agreement is in place, The Crown Estate would require that it is supplied with all environmental and monitoring data collected, including the data acquired for the completion of the environmental statement submitted as part of the consenting process.

At that point, when all the development milestones in the lease option agreement have been achieved, it may be exercised for the granting of a lease.

Term of Lease, Rent and Charges

As we are dealing only with demonstration and pre-commercial projects leases will be short term. We do not charge a commercial rent for demonstration / pre-commercial projects but we do charge a nominal annual rent of £100 and we will require payment of reasonable legal fees to cover the cost of arranging the lease. Your business and development plan will identify future development of the project and any decisions on the future extension of the site lease will be at our discretion.

Site Investigation

Some project developers are investigating marine and coastal sites for potential device deployment. If site investigation requires intrusive activities such as the deployment of oceanographic equipment moored to the seabed, grab sampling, boreholes etc. you need permission from The Crown Estate. Please contact the marine team to discuss your requirements.