Scottish Marine Recovery Fund: interim guidance

Purpose of Marine Recovery Funds

The Energy Act 2023 enables the UK Government to make provision for the establishment, operation and management of one or more Marine Recovery Funds (MRFs).

An MRF can only be used to receive and make payments to secure compensation to address the adverse impacts of offshore wind activities on protected sites (see Impacts addressed by the Fund).

The establishment of an MRF should support the timely determination of offshore wind applications. Offshore wind developers would be able to discharge their environmental compensation conditions, wholly or in part, through making agreed payment to the MRF. The MRF would then be responsible for delivering the agreed compensation measures.

The UK Government intends to establish two MRFs. These include the Scottish MRF and the MRF for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, here referred to as the UK Government MRF.

The Scottish MRF will be operated and managed by the Scottish Ministers and is the focus of this interim guidance. The UK Government published interim guidance on the UK Government MRF in January 2025 and shared further information in their public consultation in March 2025.

The Scottish MRF and the UK Government MRF intend to operate under the following joint principles, where both MRFs will:

• deliver a more streamlined process for securing compensation required in respect of offshore wind developments and do so in a way that enables strategic environmental benefits to be delivered
• be tailored to each nation’s unique constitutional, legal and sectoral needs, maximising their effectiveness and value
• work in close partnership, with opportunities to broadly align approaches being sought wherever possible and practicable

Use of the Scottish MRF would be voluntary. Offshore wind developers would be able to pursue their own delivery of any required compensation measures as they currently do.