01 Sep 2026
Photo by Paul Chambers Crown Estate Scotland has opened the seventh round of its Sustainable Communities Fund, making more than half a million pounds available to grass-roots projects across the country, the largest funding pot the scheme has offered since it launched in 2020. The fund has distributed over £2.25 million to date. Two grant streams […]
12 May 2026
Photo by Igor Francetic Three ScotWind offshore wind developers have joined forces with Crown Estate Scotland and NatureScot to fund a two-year acoustic study of minke whale activity in a marine protected area that lies directly in the path of planned grid connection infrastructure off the Aberdeenshire coast. The study, led by the Scottish […]
21 May 2024
The Marine Data Exchange platform will now include data on offshore activities in Scottish waters. Following an agreement between The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland, the Marine Data Exchange has been extended to cover Scottish waters. The agreement will allow all developers working in UK waters to benefit from a more streamlined and comprehensive dataset to inform offshore […]
04 May 2024
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), the UK’s oil and gas regulator, has awarded 31 new hydrocarbon exploration licences as part of the 33rd oil and gas licensing round. The licences are part of the third tranche of the NSTA’s 33rd oil and gas licensing round, which has awarded a total of 82 licenses to […]
22 Aug 2023
A £425,000 fund designed to support projects and ideas to benefit the environment and local communities has opened for its fourth round of applications. Crown Estate Scotland’s Sustainable Communities Fund, set up in 2020, has already delivered around £970,000 in valuable support to people across the country. It consists of two grant programmes: Community Capacity […]
18 Apr 2023
Orkney Island Council and Crown Estate Scotland (CES) have unveiled further details of a ground-breaking project aimed at giving Orkney islanders greater say in decisions about the use of the seabed around them. The arrangement involves both organisations working closely to evaluate new applications for agreements on the seabed surrounding Orkney, ensuring key decisions are […]
28 Mar 2023
Crown Estate Scotland has announced the results of the world’s first leasing round designed to enable offshore wind energy to directly supply offshore oil and gas platforms. The INTOG (Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas) leasing process allowed developers to apply for seabed rights to develop offshore wind projects that either reduce emissions from the […]
08 Nov 2022
Crown Estate Scotland has confirmed that all three successful ScotWind Clearing applicants now have seabed option agreements in place meaning that their projects can move into the development stage. Full seabed leases are granted at a later stage once applicants have the necessary consents from regulators, such as Marine Scotland, and have secured grid connections and financing. […]
