Crown Estate commits to offshore

The UK Crown Estate, which owns the seabed around the UK out to 12 nautical miles, has committed £50 million (€58.6 million) to accelerate the country’s offshore energy plans as well as protect the marine environment, it has announced.

It had already committed £25 million but doubled this on June 6 with a further £25 million to its Offshore Wind Evidence and Change programme ’as the nation ramps up aspirations to accelerate homgrown energy independence’, it says.

”The programme is gathering and harnessing the necessary data and evidence to propel forward the growth of UK offshore wind at pace, while maintaining clean, healthy, productive and biologically diverse seas,” it says.

Of the 23 projects in the current portfolio, some are tailored towards enabling a more integrated design of wind farms with the natural environment.

“This includes potential environmental compensatory measures to address environmental impacts and support timely and informed decision making,” it says.

Priority bird, marine mammal and seabed habitat will be identified and protected and there will be a renewed focus on floating offshore wind and cable infrastructure.

“As the need to accelerate offshore wind deployment ramps up, restoring our natural environment has never been more important. We are committed to safeguarding the marine environment whilst shaping, innovating, informing and enabling the development of offshore wind for the long-term benefit of the nation,” said Dan Labbad, Chief Executive of the Crown Estate.