Crown Estate Scotland has published a procedural update for eligible applicants for the ScotWind Clearing process.

Clearing provides an opportunity for ScotWind applicants who met our required standards but were out competed for their chosen location, to revise their application for a different location.

Crown Estate Scotland stated in the June 2020 Leasing Summary that several conditions must be met before Clearing requests may be made. These are:

• There must be at least one applicant which is entitled to make a Clearing request.
• At least one applicant who is in a position to make a clearing request must confirm that it intends to do so.
• There must be scope for further Option Agreements within any restrictions imposed by the Sectoral Marine Plan.

We expect that all of these conditions will be met and therefore that Clearing is likely. Confirmation of the Clearing process along with the available areas is expected to be made during April 2022.

In line with our existing approach, applicants will not be able to submit a Clearing request for seabed within 5km of seabed covered by an agreement established prior to ScotWind or 35km of seabed covered by ScotWind Options Agreements without prior consent.  All of the NE1 Plan Area of the Scottish Government’s Sectoral Marine Plan (SMP) for Offshore Wind will be made available for Clearing. Other areas may be made available but they will not be confirmed until our update in April 2022.

Clearing is not an opportunity for applicants to re-start the application process or for new market entrants to compete for seabed. Clearing is not a new ScotWind cycle. Clearing is only open to those applicants who have already had an application evaluated.

As with the original application submission, the Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) will not be formally evaluated. However, as the SCDS is required to relate to a specific project, Clearing applicants are invited to submit a revised one.

The deadline for Clearing applications is expected to be around July 2022 with any resulting Option Agreements from the Clearing process to be signed in Autumn 2022.

KeyFacts Energy: Renewable Energy news