The UK Crown Estate now expects to award seabed leases for the next wave of offshore wind projects in 2022 rather than next year as planned – but insisted the wind farms can still be up and running in time to meet the British government’s 2030 target for the sector.

In an update to the timetable for Round 4, which aims to unlock 7-8.5GW of new capacity off the UK, the Crown Estate said the next stage of the process known as ITT2, including bidding cycles, will start in November and run into early-2021.

That will be followed by the Plan-Level Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) stage that could take up to a year and will assess the impact of project on conservation sites.

The Crown Estate said: “We had previously expected successful Round 4 projects to be awarded agreements for lease in 2021. We now expect that this could take place in spring 2022, subject to the outcome of the HRA.”

The body, which landlords the British seabed, added: “Once consented through the statutory planning process, Round 4 projects could begin generating clean power by the end of the decade.”

The end-of-decade deadline is crucial if the Round 4 projects are to make a contribution to the 40GW offshore wind target set by the UK government that was hailed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a flagship policy in a speech this month.

The leasing round is widely expected to see new players such as oil & gas majors join the utility giants that have already built major projects in UK waters, helping the nation achieve the world's largest market for wind at sea.

The Round 4 projects off England and Wales are designed to join the remaining Round 3 wind farms, extensions to existing projects and developments in Scottish waters in helping Britain quadruple existing capacity.

The industry faces a range of challenges in meeting that goal, including local opposition in eastern England, concerns over grid access and controversy over the level of local content used on offshore wind farms.

The Round 4 process has already modified its timetable several times, as a result of needing further consultation over the controversial use of ‘option fees’ to award leases, and later due to the impact of coronavirus.

Jonny Boston, business development manager at The Crown Estate, said: “Today’s announcement updates our intended timeline for the final stretch of our tender, ensuring we can maintain a fair, robust and transparent process.”

Scotland in June launched its long-anticipated ScotWind offshore wind power leasing round, opening the door to a ‘high scenario’ of as much as 10GW in new projects and raising hopes of an almost £9bn ($11.5bn) wave of investment in the sector starting in the mid-2020s.

Wind

UK Round 4 offshore wind lease slip puts pressure on government 2030 goal