Crown Estate Scotland has on 10 August, opened the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) offshore wind leasing process. A two-week registration window has been opened, which will be followed later this month by the opening of the application window.
Offshore wind developers are being invited to put forward project proposals for the leasing of seabed to reduce North Sea emissions and boost innovation. The areas of seabed which developers can apply for are set out in the Scottish Government’s Initial Plan Framework.
Developers can apply for the rights to build small-scale innovative offshore wind projects, of less than 100MW, and projects which will provide green electricity to oil and gas infrastructure to reduce their carbon emissions.
Crown Estate Scotland’s final leasing documents have been optimised to support early project development and reflect many of the comments and suggestions from potential applicants, who were asked for feedback earlier this year. These include extending Option Periods from five to seven years and doubling Lease Periods from 25 to 50 years for electrification projects. The timetable for the INTOG application process is as follows:
- 10 August registration window opens
- 24 August registration closes
- 18 November application window closes
Depending on the volume and quality of submissions, it is envisaged that applicants will be notified of the leasing results by the end of March 2023. Exclusivity agreements will then be finalised. Awards will be determined on a mixture of price bid and quality and will be split in to two pots - one for smaller-scale innovation projects, and one for projects linked to oil and gas infrastructure. INTOG is a process separate to the ScotWind Leasing round for commercial scale offshore wind projects in Scottish waters.
