Angus MSP welcomes results of ScotWind offshore wind leasing auction

With the winners of the ScotWind offshore wind leasing auction announced by Crown Estate Scotland, billions will be invested in high quality green jobs as part of Scotland’s transition to net zero.

It resulted in 17 projects, with a combined potential generating capacity of 25GW, been offered the rights to specific areas of the seabed for the development of offshore wind power – with developers giving commitments to invest in the Scottish supply chain.

The Scottish Government has said this will provide opportunities for high quality green jobs for decades to come.

The scale of opportunity represented in the announcement exceeds Scotland’s current planning assumption of 10GW of offshore wind – indicative, Ms Sturgeon said, of a “massive vote of confidence in Scotland”.

The projects are expected to secure at least £1bn in supply chain investment for every 1GW of capacity proposed. They will also generate around £700 million in revenue for the Scottish Government, and represent the world’s first commercial scale opportunity for floating offshore wind.

As well as helping complete Scotland’s own journey to net zero and creating thousands of jobs, the country’s offshore wind resource also has the potential to position Scotland as a major exporter of renewable energy – including green hydrogen.

Mr Dey said: “It entails both a huge step forward in our net-zero transition, through decarbonisation of our energy supply, and a green jobs boon through the supply chain investment – investment in quality jobs that Scottish workers will have the transferrable skills to fill, ensuring this transition is a fair one.

“This is very positive news in terms of the prospects of those presently working in the North east’s offshore oil and gas sector, including many here in Angus, who can be confident of future opportunities in green energy. The spread of the projects across Scottish waters should mean benefits for all parts of the country.”