Offshore wind energy - draft updated Sectoral Marine Plan: statement of publication participation

Background

2.1 Marine planning in Scotland is governed by Scotland’s National Marine Plan (2015), a statutory plan developed in accordance with the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. It sets out strategic policies and general planning principles for the sustainable development of Scotland’s seas. Scotland’s National Marine Plan (2015) includes a requirement for sectoral marine planning for commercial scale offshore wind through Renewables 1 Policy.

2.2 Sectoral Marine Planning provides a framework for the sustainable development of offshore wind energy in Scotland’s marine environment, extending to cover the Scottish Territorial Waters (0-12 nautical miles) and the Scottish Offshore Marine Area (12-200 nautical miles). Sectoral Marine Plans provide Scottish Government the spatial strategy to steer offshore development.

2.3 The SMP-OWE was consulted on from December 2019 to March 2020 and was adopted by Scottish Ministers in October 2020. 15 spatial “Plan Options” were identified as suitable for the sustainable development of commercial-scale offshore wind projects. It examined three potential deployment scenarios with an upper (maximum) scenario of 10GW. Crown Estate Scotland (“CES”) used the SMP-OWE (2020) to inform the subsequent ScotWind leasing round, in which a total of 20 projects were awarded Option Agreements (“OAs”) within the SMP-OWE’s 15 spatial Plan Options, for a potential generation capacity of 27.6GW (Figure 1). More information about the marine planning process is available at: Sectoral marine plan for offshore wind energy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

2.4 The SMP-OWE (2020) advised that Scottish Ministers may choose to explore the demand for a future leasing round to enable innovative projects and projects aimed at the decarbonisation of the oil and gas sector in Scotland, and to help achieve the targets set out in the North Sea Transition Deal. Areas of search for potential future seabed leasing were identified and consulted upon by the Scottish Government, and an Initial Plan Framework was produced in 2022. In March 2023, CES announced the results of Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas Decarbonisation (“INTOG”) leasing round, from which 12 projects, five for innovation (“IN”) and seven for Targeted Oil and Gas (“TOG”) are progressing with Exclusivity Agreements, with proposed combined capacities up to 449MW and 5GW respectively (Figure 1).

2.5 Scottish Ministers concluded that the SMP-OWE needed to be updated as part of the Iterative Plan Review (“IPR”) following the ScotWind leasing award by CES to consider the increased generating capacities. The updated SMP-OWE will also consider the INTOG leasing round outputs, as well as inclusion of the potential development of offshore wind test and demonstration sites, providing a spatial framework for future offshore wind development in Scottish waters.

2.6 The process to update the SMP-OWE includes the reassessment of potential environmental and socio-economic risks and opportunities of offshore wind development. Plan and project level mitigation measures to address impacts are also considered. The updated SMP-OWE will also include the assessment of proposed in-combination and cumulative impacts of the proposed development with existing offshore developments, including known cable routes, and other marine policies, on the environment, economy, marine users and on local communities.

2.7 The purpose of the draft updated SMP-OWE is to enable the sustainable development of offshore wind energy in Scottish waters, by balancing economic, social and environmental objectives through a systems-led assessment process that engages a range of stakeholders and is underpinned by evidence. The aims of the draft updated SMP-OWE are to:

1) Provide a strategic spatial framework for offshore wind development in Scottish waters by bringing together into one Plan:

• The ScotWind Option Areas that were awarded lease options in 2022 based on the SMP-OWE (2020);
• The INTOG Option and Exclusivity Agreement Areas that were awarded exclusivity agreements based on the INTOG IPF in 2023 and,
• The potential development of up to 1GW of generating capacity from offshore wind test and demonstration sites.

2) Assess the potential national and regional level opportunities and constraints resulting from development within the plan option areas with a generating capacity of up to 37.4GW, providing greater clarity to industry, investors, consumers and the public.

• Including proposed in-combination and cumulative impacts of the proposed development with existing offshore developments and other marine policies, on the environment, economy, marine users and on local communities.

3) Consider the in-combination impacts from the development of cable routes and supporting infrastructure; storage construction and maintenance of devices (commonly referred to as “wet storage”); Ministry of Defence and radar sites.

4) Support economic and investment opportunities of offshore wind and the competitive local supply chain opportunities in Scotland to support energy security, economic development, improved infrastructure, skills and jobs across Scotland, and increase investor confidence in the sustainability of Scottish projects.

5) Support an efficient and streamlined consenting and licensing process for offshore wind development in Scotland.