Offshore Wind Worldwide Regulatory Framework in Selected Countries 5th Edition 2024 - Flipbook - Page 341
Offshore Wind Worldwide 2024
2.2 Scheme in relation to exclusivity to
construct, own and operate a project,
as well as to receive feed-in revenues
(a) The Crown Estate
Exclusivity to construct, own and operate
an offshore wind project in England and
Wales is secured through the entry by the
proposed developer into an Agreement for
Lease with The Crown Estate. Under the
Agreement for Lease, developers can “step
through” into a lease for the relevant seabed
site, subject to the discharge of various
milestone conditions.
As noted above, in January 2023, The Crown
Estate concluded a major offshore wind leasing round (known as Round 4), opening up
the opportunity for c.8GW of new offshore
wind energy. Agreements for the development of six fixed offshore wind projects
were signed, with Hogan Lovells acting as
the Crown Estate’s advisor.
The Crown Estate’s Round 4 tender process
included:
•
a three-stage tender process, evaluating
both bidders’ capability and their proposed projects, before using option fees to
determine award;
•
bidder led site selection within four available Bidding Areas (Dogger Bank Bidding
Area; Eastern Regions Bidding Area;
South East Bidding Area; and Northern
Wales and Irish Sea Bidding Area);
341
•
a geographically diverse pipeline –
Round 4 projects were required to come
forward across at least three Bidding
Areas, with a maximum of 3.5 GW within
any one area;
•
extended 60-year lease terms – (up from
50) enough for two full project lifecycles;
and
•
low-cost deployment – Round 4 focuses
on water depths out to 60 metres, which
are suitable for fixed foundation technology, and will come forward in areas of favourable development resource, helping
to enable cost-competitive deployment.
The Crown Estate has since confirmed the
launch of the Round 5 seabed leasing process for floating offshore wind projects in
the Celtic Sea, under which leases for up to
4.5 GW of generation capacity will be awarded. See section 1.2(i)(ii) for further details.
(b) Plan-Level Habitats Regulations
Assessment (HRA)33
The EU Habitats Directive provides for the
establishment and protection of certain
habitats known collectively as European
sites. These sites include the following which
comprise the Natura 2000 network:
•
Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) designated under the EU Habitats Directive;
and
•
Special Protection Areas (SPAs) sites
classified under the EU Birds Directive.
33 Further details can be found at https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/media/3378/tce-r4-information-memorandum.pdf.
