Offshore wind policy statement 2020 update: consultation

What should the level of ambition be?

Our abundant natural resources, world leading subsea engineering capabilities, and strong skills base in North Sea oil and gas production provide a perfect platform to deliver and sustain a thriving offshore wind economy in Scotland. The benefits from offshore wind will have a profound and long-lasting positive impact for our communities, our young people and our economy.

Offshore wind is at the heart of both energy and economic government policy in Scotland, and the Scottish Government is doing everything it can to ensure that projects and the associated economic benefits we all want to see are delivered. We are investing up to £500m over five years to support market certainty, create a highly productive, competitive offshore wind economy and support thousands of jobs, while embedding innovation and boosting skills. An updated offshore wind ambition for Scotland needs to reflect, and firmly underline our commitment to, the truly transformational opportunity that offshore wind offers.

However we are absolutely clear that offshore wind development needs to happen in the right place and be delivered in the right way, particularly when it comes to the environment and other marine users. Sustainable, plan-led development remains key and to ensure that our ambition properly considers environmental impacts, as well as impacts on other users of the sea such as fishers, we are currently consulting on the Draft Updated Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy (SMP-OWE) which brings together a strategic assessment of environmental, social and economic impacts and benefits of the offshore wind pipeline for the ScotWind and INTOG leasing rounds.

The Plan being consulted upon accounts for a generating capacity of up to 37.4GW and clearly establishes the opportunities and constraints of developing offshore wind in Scottish waters. It only assesses the development of projects from the ScotWind and INTOG rounds (as well as an additional 1GW capacity of potential future Test & Demonstration projects, though this 1GW is not included in the total pipeline) so the 37.4GW figure does not account for projects leased prior to ScotWind. The final Plan will inform the ambition for Scotland in an updated Offshore Wind Policy Statement.

The potential pipeline has now grown to over 40GW, which includes all ScotWind and INTOG projects, as well as those leased prior to the ScotWind/INTOG leasing rounds. Further information on Scotland's offshore wind developments can be found at www.offshorewindscotland.org.uk.

Deployment of the potential pipeline is of course subject to projects securing the necessary planning consents, ensuring that project-level impacts are rigorously assessed and determined in line with regulatory requirements. While governments can create a supportive policy environment (either the UK Government on reserved matters or the Scottish Government where devolved), it is important to acknowledge that the delivery of projects is also dependent on market conditions and other dynamics outside of Government control.

To reinforce our absolute commitment to maximising the deployment of offshore wind in Scotland, while mindful of what is set out in the draft updated SMP-OWE, the Scottish Government is resetting its ambition and aiming for the development of up to 40 GW by 2035-2040 in addition to our existing operational capacity.