• About us

  • The Crown Estate is a diverse property business valued at more than £7 billion. We have been trusted to manage a wide range of properties across the UK including commercial and retail properties. In the country, it includes agricultural land, parkland and forestry. It includes shopping centres, business parks, farms and housing. And we have over half the foreshore and almost all of the seabed around the UK.

    • Our business
    • Financial information
    • Our values
    • Our people
    • Scotland
    • Awards
    • Our history
    • FAQs
    • Contact us
    • Our offices
  • 

    Welcome to The Crown Estate

    Launch

• Sustainability
  • • Sustainability
    • Our strategy and targets
    • Tackling climate change and energy security
    • Driving environmental value
    • Sustaining communities
    • Working together
    • Reporting and assurance
• News & Media
  • • News
    • Local focus
    • Branding
    • Press office
    • Get updates
• Careers

  • We hope you're here because you believe your talents and experience match the exciting opportunities which exist in our unique organisation.

    • Careers
• Contact us
  • • Our Offices
    • Agents A-Z

• Home
• Urban

  • The Crown Estate's urban portfolio comprises a wide and varied mix of properties ranging from modern purpose-built offices, retail and shopping centres to Grade I listed buildings.

    • What we do
    • Our portfolio
    • Local focus

    Estates mapAgents A-ZCase studies

  • 

    Retail

    Prime retail is one of our core sectors.

    Read more

• Marine

  • We manage virtually the entire seabed out to the 12 nautical mile territorial limit, as well as around half of the foreshore.

    • What we do
    • Aggregates
    • Aquaculture
    • Cables and pipelines
    • Marine research
    • Marine stewardship fund
    • Metal detecting
    • Minerals potash
    • Moorings and marinas
    • Wildfowling
    • Downloads

    Estates mapAgents A-ZCase studies

  • 

    Aggregates

    Our estate includes the rights to explore and utilise the mineral interests of the UK continental shelf.

    Read more

• Energy

  • The Crown Estate is a key player in supporting the delivery of a diverse and secure energy supply for the UK.

    • Offshore wind energy
    • Onshore renewables
    • Carbon capture and storage
    • Natural gas storage
    • Wave and tidal
    • Downloads
    • Notices

    Estates mapCase studies

  • 

    Offshore wind energy

    As managers of the seabed out to the 12 nm limit, we play a major role in the development of the offshore wind energy industry in the UK.

    Read more

• Rural

  • The rural estate comprises the agricultural, mineral and forestry estates in England, Scotland & Wales, as well as residential and commercial property.

    • What we do
    • Agriculture
    • Development
    • Forestry
    • Minerals
    • New business
    • Rural residential
    • Tourism
    • Our portfolio
    • Local focus
    • Sustainability
    • Downloads

    Estates mapAgents A-ZCase studies

  • 

    Agriculture

    Our agricultural interests include both livestock and arable farming over 106,000 hectares (263,000 acres) across the UK.

    Read more

• Windsor

  • The Windsor Estate covers approximately 6,400 hectares and includes Windsor Great Park, the Home Park of Windsor Castle, extensive forests, residential and commercial properties, golf courses, a racecourse and let farms.

    • What we do
    • Parkland
    • Ascot and surrounds
    • Forestry
    • Residential and commercial lettings
    • Working with us
    • Local focus

    Estates mapAgents A-Z

  • 

    The Royal Landscape

    Situated in the southeast corner of Windsor Great Park lies The Royal Landscape, featuring the famous Savill and Valley Gardens.

    Read more

• Estates map

• Energy
• Offshore wind energy
  • Our portfolio
  • Local focus
  • Working with us
    • Strategic workstreams
• Onshore renewables
• Carbon capture and storage
  • What we do
  • Working with us
• Natural gas storage
  • What we do
  • Working with us
• Wave and tidal
  • Pentland Firth and Orkney waters
  • Our portfolio
  • Working with us
• Case studies
• Downloads
• Notices

Working with us

Round 3

Round 3

The Round 3 programme comprises nine offshore wind zones. The zones vary in size, distance from the coast water depth, environmental characteristics and their existing commercial uses. 

The zones were identified through a combination of consultation with key national stakeholders and our marine asset planning expertise.

In 2008 offshore wind developers were invited to bid for the zones. Following a tender process the successful bidders agreed Zone Development Agreements (ZDA) with The Crown Estate. The ZDAs grant exclusive rights for development organisations to develop offshore wind farms within a specified zone.

We are now working closely with the successful developers as they identify potential project site(s) within each zone and seek an agreement for lease for each site. Once the developer has secured all key project consents from the relevant planning authorities, we can grant them a lease to construct and operate a wind farm.

Our approach to Round 3 focuses on reducing the risks to project delivery and accelerating the overall programme. This includes co-investing with developers up to the point of consent. In addition we have placed a contract manager in each zone developer's office acting as a focal point and to facilitate the delivery of offshore wind projects.

We are also working with developers and key stakeholders to overcome challenges in five key areas. We term these strategic workstreams:

• Health and safety
• Planning and consenting
• Supply chain and skills
• Technology and transmission
• Project finance and economics

We have a team of specialists in place to help deliver our objectives in these areas through our strategic workstreams programme.

Scottish territorial waters

Scottish territorial waters

The Scottish Territorial Waters offshore wind programme is pivotal to the Scottish Government's renewable energy targets and will make a major contribution to sustainable economic growth in Scotland.

Outer Solway Plan

Scotland has a  significant share of European wind resources which offers opportunities for offshore wind power that can help Scotland achieve its ambitious renewable energy targets. The Crown Estate has established a world leading offshore wind leasing programme, providing a significant boast to the economy through jobs and inward investment whilst creating a secure supply chain. We will continue to work closely with Scottish Government, Marine Scotland as well as all the developers to support this growing industry create a secure, alternative, low carbon energy source.
Outer Solway Firth Plan PDF (520KB)

Five sites around Scottish Territorial Waters have been awarded agreements for lease in 2011 totalling an awarded capacity of 4.76 GW which will be taken forward by developers for consent.

In 2008, following discussions with the Scottish Government, we announced the Scottish Territorial Waters award round with calls for expressions of interest from developers. Following receipt of submissions from developers we awarded ten sites totalling 6.4 GW of capacity in early 2009.

Following the award of sites, which were wholly identified by developers, the Scottish Government announced that it would undertake a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) into offshore wind development in Scottish Territorial Waters.

The sites were awarded exclusivity agreements by The Crown Estate in early 2009, which were conditional on the findings of the SEA process Following publication of the Scottish Governments Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy in Scottish Territorial Waters in March 2010; six sites were given approval subject to securing detailed consent. Five of these sites have been awarded agreements for lease and the sixth site has been relinquished by the developer and is out of the STW programme.

We have established regional developer groups to facilitate collaborative work required for consenting purposes and to ensure robust and comprehensive consultation with stakeholders.

Our commitment to the programme was further demonstrated this year by making a strategic investment in the proposed Inch Cape site in the Outer Forth to enable ongoing project work on the site to continue to plan. This investment protected the ongoing project and subsequently the site has been acquired by Repsol, a major Spanish energy company who is a new entrant to the UK renewable sector.

Moving forward

We have now granted agreements for lease for  five sites totalling 4.76 GW of awarded capacity. This enables the developers to progress site specific design and consenting studies which will lead to submissions for detailed site consents over the next three years. Two of the five sites, Beatrice and Neart na Gaoithe will submit for consent in early 2012.

The five sites are detailed in the table below:

Scottish offshore wind consortia and developers

Site name	Company	Size (MW)	Area (km2)
Argyll Array	ScottishPower Renewables	1,800	361
Beatrice	SSE Renewables plc	1,000	121
Inch Cape	Repsol	1,000	150
Islay	SSE Renewables plc	680	94
Neart na Gaoithe	Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd	450	105

Total award capacity 4,250MW.

Offshore Wind Developers Forum

Offshore Wind Developers Forum

Together with the Government and senior executives from the 17 developers working on offshore wind projects, we have established the Offshore Wind Developers Forum.

To help facilitate the delivery of the Government's ambitious plans for offshore wind energy, senior executives from the 17 developers working on UK offshore wind projects, the Government and our own organisation have come together to establish the Offshore Wind Developers Forum. The forum's purpose is to bring together Government and industry to find solutions to barriers which have the potential to impede the viability and deliverability of offshore wind in the UK and also to maximise benefits to the UK economy.

At the RenewableUK offshore wind conference on 30 June 2010, it was announced that the Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change will co-chair the forum, alongside Keith Anderson, now chief corporate officer at ScottishPower. A manager, based at our offices in London, has been appointed to run the secretariat functions for the forum and to provide technical support.

At the meeting on 6 February 2012, the OWDF agreed the following:

UK offshore wind vision

"The UK to be the centre of offshore wind technology and deployment, with a competitive supply chain in the UK, providing over 50 per cent of the content of offshore wind farm projects."

 

Most recent forum papers

OWDF meeting 6 February 2012 

Minutes 6 February 2012 PDF (520 KB)

     Habitats and wild birds directives implementation review PDF (110 KB)

     Presentations for 6 February meeting PDF (1.5 MB)

Please note that this page contains only the most recent OWDF papers. For archived papers, please visit  OWDF downloads.

Further information

Terms of reference

Main forum terms of reference PDF (280 KB)

Membership list

Main forum membership list PDF (330 KB)

Information statements

Offshore wind developers forum information bulletin PDF (35 KB)

 

FLOWW

The Fishing Liaison with Offshore Wind and Wet Renewables Group (FLOWW) was set up in 2002.

Set up to foster good relations between the fishing and offshore renewable energy sectors and encourage co-existence of the industries, FLOWW's objectives are to share knowledge on issues arising from the interaction of the fishing industry and offshore renewables activity, share and develop best practice, and liaise with other sectors with interests in the marine environment.

From 28 March 2011, the group has been chaired by Colin Warwick of The Crown Estate. In addition, The Crown Estate has taken over the secretariat services of the group from DECC. The group comprises organisations with an interest in offshore renewables and the fishing industry, and are drawn from fishing industry bodies and representatives from developers, government and The Crown Estate. FLOWW will meet three times a year.

Previous minutes of the meetings are held on the website of DECC and archived web pages from BERR, and can be accessed from this page.

FLOWW Minutes and papers

Minutes of Meeting 20 July 2011 PDF (360 KB)

Minutes of Meeting 28 March 2011 PDF (450 KB)

Please note that the views expressed are those emanating from the group as a whole and may not necessarily be those of any specific member of the group.

Contact us

The secretariat can be contacted at:

Morag J Wilson
FLOWW Manager
c/o The Crown Estate
16 New Burlington Place
London W1S 2HX.

Email FLOWW

All media enquiries should be directed through the communications team on 020 7851 5070. 

FLOWW meeting dates

20 July 2011

FLOWW Operational Management PDF (330 KB)

28 March 2011

Statutory consents

Statutory consents

Providing support to tenants on statutory consents and permits. 

Crown Estate leases and environmental assessments

Any marine renewable energy project in UK territorial waters or the UK Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) requires a lease from us in order to make use of the seabed. These leases cover the areas where offshore wind, wave or tidal infrastructure are located, and the area occupied by the cables which transport the electricity to shore.

All statutory consents and permits must be obtained before we can issue a full lease. Although we are not the issuing body, we do provide strategic support to tenants during their project planning and environmental impact assessment processes. However, it is the tenant's responsibility to undertake all the work required to gain the statutory consents necessary for their project.

During the consenting process, renewable energy developers will need to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and demonstrate compliance with the Habitats Regulations (possibly through an appropriate assessment). More information about the Habitats Regulations is available from the statutory nature conservation agencies.

Renewable energy developments are generally subject to a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), which is conducted by DECC or Marine Scotland.

Although we do not issue statutory consents, outside of seabed areas subject to an agreement for lease or full lease our permission is required to undertake surveys which physically affect the seabed. This includes benthic ecology surveys and geotechnical surveys. This is the same principal which applies to surveys on land. By requiring renewable energy tenants to seek this permission, we are able to manage activity on the entire marine estate more effectively, and to identify potentially conflicting activities.

Main statutory consents:  England and Wales

In England and Wales, the main statutory consent for offshore wind projects of 100 MW or more is a Development Consent Order (DCO) under the Planning Act 2008. For smaller developments, a marine licence (under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009) and a consent under the Electricity Act 1989 will be required. Depending on the location and nature of the project, other consents may also be required, including planning permission under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for onshore developments. More information on these consents is available from the Marine Management Organisation, the Welsh Government and the Infrastructure Planning Commission.

Examples of English / Welsh key statutory consents

The consenting of offshore renewables projects is complex. Examples of statutory consents include:

• for offshore renewable energy projects over 100 MW) a Development Consent Order (DCO) from the Infrastructure Planning Commission
• (for projects under 100 MW) a consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act from Marine Management Organisation
• a marine licence from Marine Management Organisation
• Planning permission from a local authority for onshore works under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Main statutory consents:  Scotland

In Scotland, the main statutory consents for offshore wind projects are under the Electricity Act 1989, and a marine licence (under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010). Planning permission under the Planning &c. (Scotland) Act 2006 may also be required for onshore works. More information on these consents is available from Marine Scotland.

Examples of Scottish key statutory consents

The consenting of offshore renewables projects is complex. Examples of statutory consents include:

• a marine licence from Marine Scotland
• consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act from Marine Scotland
• Planning permission from a local authority for onshore works under the Planning &c. (Scotland) Act 2006.

Print this page