Question reference: S6W-08318
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 19 May 2022
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Current status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 June 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the decision to review the option structure for the ScotWind leasing process, as announced by Crown Estate Scotland on 11 February 2021, which states that “the decision has been taken with the support of Scottish Government Ministers”, whether it will provide details of its role (a) in initiating the review and (b) during the review that followed.
Answer
Crown Estate Scotland (CES) and the Scottish Government were informed of The Crown Estate’s Round 4 results at the same time. These results indicated a significant change in the offshore wind market. As the ScotWind registration and application process had already opened, CES informed Scottish Ministers that it intended to pause the process in order to conduct a rapid review. The Scottish Government provided advice on process and implications for broader offshore wind policies in Scotland. During the review, Scottish Government were kept regularly informed of the review’s progress through to completion as delivery of the review as swiftly as possible was key to keeping the ScotWind process on track.