Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 officially opens

The Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) for Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 – the UK’s first major new leasing round in a decade – has been formally issued by The Crown Estate.

Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 will offer seabed rights for at least 7GW of new offshore wind projects in the waters around England and Wales. The PQQ is now available via The Crown Estate’s eTendering Portal that can be accessed via etendering.thecrownestate.co.uk. The deadline for PQQ submissions is 29 November 2019.

The portal uses a platform provided by Jaggaer Only applications via the portal will be considered. Details for how potential bidders can access the PQQ are available on The Crown Estate website.

PQQ is the first stage of the Round 4 leasing process and is designed to assess Bidders’ capability to deliver an offshore wind project, based on a set of financial, legal and technical criteria which Bidders must satisfy in order to qualify for the next stage. The PQQ stage runs until January 2020, and will be followed by the stages below; please note that the timings are indicative and the dates for each stage will be confirmed at the start of each stage:

• Invitation to Tender (ITT) Stage One (February 2020 – June 2020);
• Invitation to Tender (ITT) Stage Two (September 2020);
• Plan-Level Habitats Regulations Assessment (Autumn 2020 - Summer 2021); and
• Agreement for Lease (AfL) with successful bidders (Autumn 2021).

Further information about each stage of the  process is set out in the Round 4 Information Memorandum which can found at www.thecrownestate.co.uk/round4

Jonny Boston, Business Development Manager at The Crown Estate, said:

“We are delighted to be issuing the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire for Leasing Round 4. After over 18 months of preparation, the formal tender process is now officially open, marking a significant moment for the UK offshore wind market. Now the process begins in earnest to identify the next generation of offshore wind developments that will support the UK’s clean energy future out to 2030 and beyond.”
A sustainable clean energy future

The UK has the largest operating offshore wind capacity in the world, a national success story to be proud of. With a strong market appetite for new offshore wind in UK waters, and clear backing from Government, the time is right to bring forward additional seabed rights – helping to unlock this increasingly important source of renewable energy and support the UK’s clean energy future.

Round 4, our first leasing opportunity of this scale in a decade, creates the opportunity for at least 7GW of new projects in the waters around England and Wales, delivering a robust pipeline for low-cost offshore wind deployment.

Find out more through the Information Memorandum, which provides an overview of the UK market and The Crown Estate’s role, alongside a detailed summary of the design and structure of Leasing Round 4.