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Offshore Wind: Round 1

In April 2001, following a pre-qualification process, 18 companies were awarded agreements for leases by the Crown Estate (CE) in the first round of offshore wind farm sites on the UK seabed. This represented a significant achievement for the then DTI in encouraging the development of offshore wind farms. Under the agreements, the companies were given a three-year period in which to obtain the necessary consents for a lease to be granted by the CE.

The CE’s procedure for the first round of offshore wind farms, which concluded in April 2001, followed three stages:

• pre-qualification
• site allocation
• granting of an Agreement for Lease (which was entirely at the discretion of the CE Commissioners).

To pre-qualify, applicants had to satisfy the following three requirements in priority order:

• financial standing
• offshore development expertise
• wind turbine expertise.

Developments had to comply with a number of conditions:

• Sites had to be within the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit around the UK.
• Sites had to be at least 10 kilometres apart.
• Sites had to have a minimum generating capacity of 20 megawatts.
• Sites were restricted to a maximum of 30 turbines.

In identifying sites, applicants also had to take account of all the relevant environmental factors, including proximity to shipping lanes, dredging areas, fisheries, conservation areas, cables and pipelines. Applicants were also required to provide a statement and project plan with reference to their first choice, showing the main stages of development. A financial deposit was required when applications were lodged (pre-qualification).

Details on the successful Round 1 applicants are available from the Crown Estate (CE) website

For information on offshore wind farms under construction and those generating electricity for the grid network, visit the British Wind Energy Association website .