The Crown Estate recently won an award for its ‘whole of seabed’ approach for planning seabed use up to 2050, including offshore wind.
The Esri ‘special achievement in geographical information system (GIS)’ award was given to the Crown Estate for the spatial planning system developed by its marine and digital teams. It includes data from over 250 sources across ten sectors, enabling scenario planning across a range of marine industries.
It considers demands on the seabed, including offshore wind, carbon capture, telecoms, and minerals, while protecting nature’s interests. According to Gus Jaspert, the managing director of marine at the Crown Estate, the technology “helps make sense of highly complex and competing demands on the seabed, driving better planning decisions for the benefit of the nation”.
The Crown Estate, an independent company that manages a £16 billion portfolio on behalf of Royal Family, recently announced its partnership with Labour’s flagship Great British Energy company. The partnership will see the two work together on an estimated 20-30GW of new offshore wind developments reaching seabed lease stage by 2030.
“With an increasingly busy seabed, it is critical that development decisions are based on robust data and evidence”, said Michelle Moore, spatial planning director at the Crown Estate.
“Our unique ability to plan for the long-term and convene a wide range of stakeholders, helps us to balance all interests to achieve the best outcomes for net zero, nature and economic growth.”
Maximising opportunities for nature in green infrastructure
While solar developments have been shown to be a net positive for local biodiversity, research by the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) has explored how offshore wind developers can enhance biodiversity in Scotland’s seas.
Multiple offshore wind projects are set for construction off the Scottish coast. The Collaboration for Environmental Mitigation & Nature Inclusive Design (CEMNID) project, supported by SOWEC, delivered by offshore wind developers and Scottish regulators, has produced a new set of tools for the sector.
These include a ‘Good Practice Mitigation Library’ and a suitability review of Nature Inclusive Design measures, offering a practical framework for the offshore wind sector to deliver projects with minimal impact and to benefit the marine environment.
In light of GB Energy’s apparent focus on wind generation—for the time being, at least—the number of projects being commissioned around the United Kingdom is expected to accelerate. The state-owned energy company’s headquarters will be in Scotland, which has historically seen much of its workforce dependent on the oil and gas industry; GB Energy promises to build supply chains and create jobs.
The CEMNID project is a response to the twin climate and biodiversity crises facing Scotland’s seas, which it calls “arguably the greatest environmental challenges of our era”.
It further recognises two key knowledge gaps regarding impacts from offshore wind developments: identifying the most appropriate mitigation measures and identifying opportunities to implement Nature Inclusive Design (NID).
The report seeks to develop a holistic framework to identify and apply good practice environmental mitigation and to provide some understanding of how to deliver environmental benefit through embedding NID in Scottish offshore wind development projects.
The measures it recommends all aim to increase opportunities for shelter and settlement of various oceanic species. They include: fish hotels, adaptable rock protection measures, reef-type structure, mattresses for cable protection and water replenishment holes (to enable water to flow through monopiles).
