New vision for UK seabed as The Crown Estate publishes bold approach to drive energy transition and nature recovery - The Crown Estate
An ambitious vision for how the UK’s seabed can continue to support the accelerated delivery of nature recovery and the transition to clean energy has been set out by The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Amid increasing demand on the seabed from sectors critical to the UK economy, The Crown Estate has been working with stakeholders to develop initial plans for a ground-breaking Marine Delivery Routemap.
By working with others to create a holistic and long-term view of how the seabed is used, The Crown Estate hopes to achieve a number of important benefits, including:
- Providing visibility and certainty for developers across a wide range of sectors, helping boost market confidence and attract international investment;
- Identifying new areas for biodiversity and nature restoration;
- Accelerating the delivery of offshore renewables, helping address current pinch-points such as consenting and grid connections; and
- Supporting the economic development and prosperity of onshore communities, by enabling a long-term view of the investment needed for key enablers like skills, ports and supply-chain.
The development of a Routemap was one of the key recommendations published in last year’s independent report from Electricity Networks Commissioner Nick Winser. It builds on The Crown Estate’s world-leading expertise in spatial mapping and digital capabilities, which received a global Esri award for geospatial innovation in July this year.
In developing the Marine Delivery Routemap, The Crown Estate is working with partners across a wide range of agencies and sectors with a view to enabling the seabed to support the growth of key industries alongside the creation of thriving biodiversity and marine environments.
This is an ongoing process. As The Crown Estate continues to build the Routemap it intends to work with partners to produce a series of sector-specific updates, looking at how they can evolve over the years ahead.
This begins with offshore wind and a consultation published today alongside the Routemap. It is expected to be followed with reports on nature, carbon capture and other sectors.