The Crown Estate is proceeding with its Capacity Increase Programme to maximise the potential of existing offshore wind lease areas – including the Awel y Môr Offshore Wind Farm in North Wales.
An additional 4.7GW of energy could be generated from the delivery of the programme by amending existing seabed rights to increase the capacity of seven fixed-bottom offshore windfarms located around Wales and England.
This decision supports the UK’s Government’s target of up to 50GW of clean energy from offshore wind deployed by 2030, said The Crown Estate. Currently, the UK has nearly 15GW of offshore wind deployed off its coasts.
The projects were awarded rights in either The Crown Estate’s Offshore Wind Leasing Round 3 or The Crown Estate’s 2017 Offshore Wind Extensions opportunity, which aims to efficiently unlock additional offshore wind capacity by extending existing offshore wind farms. All seven projects have existing grid connections and infrastructure which will enable swift deployment and are within pre-established offshore wind sites.
They are:
- Awel y Môr
- Dudgeon Extension
- Sheringham Shoal Extension
- North Falls
- Five Estuaries
- Rampion 2
- Dogger Bank D
An extensive plan level Habitats Regulations Assessment was undertaken to assess the effects of the Capacity Increase Programme on protected habitats. After this had been concluded, The Crown Estate recommended to the Secretary of State for Energy & Net Zero that the Programme should proceed on the basis of a derogation, with compensation measures to address the identified impacts on marine habitats and species. This recommendation has been agreed by the Secretary of State.
In its recommendation, The Crown Estate maintained that proceeding with the capacity increases is in the national interest due to the contribution towards the UK’s 2030 clean power targets and the decarbonisation of the electricity grid by 2035.
Gus Jaspert, Managing Director, Marine at The Crown Estate, said:
“Our purpose is to create lasting and shared prosperity for the nation. Offshore wind enables us to do that as a driver of economic growth through jobs creation and supply chain development. Delivering the Capacity Increase Programme is an effective way to provide up to four million homes with secure, clean energy and further decrease the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels, often sourced internationally.
“Balancing the needs of energy and nature is an important responsibility we carefully consider, and we’re confident in the environmental compensation measures which will accompany the delivery of the programme. As we look to the future, our leading and collaborative Marine Delivery Routemap will be well-placed to support prioritisation decisions and avoid nature impacts as much as possible.”
Established through an Act of Parliament, The Crown Estate recently announced a modernising of its legislation (The Crown Estate Act 2025) which grants borrowing and new investment powers to future proof the organisation. These new powers will enable The Crown Estate to have a greater flexibility for investment which will create long-term impact on decarbonisation and energy security, nature recovery, creating inclusive communities and economic growth.
