The Crown Estate has published the second annual report for the Offshore Wind Evidence and Change Programme, in partnership with the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

In a news release, The Crown Estate said: A £50 million investment by The Crown Estate, the programme brings together a 27-member steering group, spanning government, industry and non-profit organisations to collaborate in innovative research as well as collating and sharing existing information that will help speed up the consenting process, protect wildlife and fishing, while promoting greater biodiversity across the UK. The programme plays a role in unlocking the potential of the seabed to help the UK tackle the challenges of climate change and energy security while supporting a thriving marine environment.

Key highlights of the year, covered in the report, include:

• A doubling of investment in the programme – A commitment by The Crown Estate to invest a further £25m, bringing the total amount committed to the programme to £50m over six years.
• Initial conclusion of projects – Six projects were completed during 2022, the first to have done so since the programme formally began in 2021.
• Further projects invested in – following a further call for submissions, a total of 15 new projects received a total of £14m worth of investment, bringing the total number of projects supported by the programme to 27. These are worth nearly £30m, including partner contributions of over £10m
• Review and updating the focus of the programme to deliver for the potential challenges of floating wind, coordinated transmission and to align with the Environmental Improvement Package of the British Energy Security Strategy

The report draws out examples of the vital collaboration with stakeholders across the offshore wind industry taking place across the programme, from nature conservation bodies such as the RSPB and Natural England, to marine planning bodies from across all four nations and the developer community. The report goes on to detail projects that study a diverse range of topics, from bird migration through to cables on the seabed.

As the programme develops, results from projects will be published on The Crown Estate’s Marine Data Exchange, the world’s largest database of offshore renewables survey data, research and evidence.

To read the full report, visit he Crown Estate’s website here.