In light of recent market conditions, the United Kingdom Crown Estate has proposed to raise the offshore wind capacity offered under the framework of the upcoming Round 4 offshore wind leasing from 6 GW to 7 GW. It has also unveiled further details on the leasing round, including the possible locations to be offered for new seabed rights in undeveloped areas. The update includes a refinement of the available regions within which interested project developers would have the opportunity to identify and propose sites for future wind parks.
The five proposed regions were selected on the basis that they are technically feasible, entail sufficiently large amounts of available seabed for offshore wind development and have low levels of development constraint. Besides, the Crown Estate also highlighted a further four regions but points out that additional investigation is required in order to better understand the local constraints and seabed resources before confirming their inclusion in the process. Finally, nine regions will not be taken forward as part of Round 4, as they are impacted by significant development constraints (defence ranges and exercise areas, visual sensitivity or overlap with large shipping routes).
Source: The Crown Estate