Energy / Offshore wind site on offer again
The ‘NE1’ area will be available in the ScotWind clearing process
AN AREA of seabed to the east of Shetland will be up for grabs to offshore wind developers again.
The NE1 area will be available in the ‘clearing’ phase of the ScotWind auction of seabed leases around the country for offshore wind farms.
Whilst there had been interest in the site in Crown Estate Scotland’s initial auction, the NE1 area was not allocated to a developer.
But Crown Estate Scotland has now confirmed the entire NE1 area will be on offer again in the coming months.
The key aim of the clearing process is to provide an opportunity for ScotWind applicants who met the required standards but were out competed for their chosen location, to revise their application for a different location.
The Crown Estate said: “Clearing is not an opportunity for applicants to re-start the application process or for new market entrants to compete for seabed.
“Clearing is not a new ScotWind cycle. Clearing is only open to those applicants who have already had an application evaluated.”
The deadline for clearing applications is expected to be around July 2022.
Seventeen successful projects to develop offshore wind farms were announced in January through the ScotWind process, from off the west of Scotland to around Orkney.
The water depth of the NE1 area is said to be make it more challenging for developers than some of the other sites.
The ScotWind process is separate to plans announced by Cerulean Winds and Aker for large offshore wind developments around Shetland.
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