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Crown Estate makes big investments in green energy

Gareth Baird of the Crown Estate.
Gareth Baird of the Crown Estate.

The Crown Estate invested almost £10 million in Scotland last year, with more than half of the cash going to green energy projects.

The organisation manages property assets worth in excess of £8 billion in the UK and has responsibility for developments in coastal waters around the British Isles.

The body which passes on all of its profits to the Treasury said it had brought forward capital investment of £9.6m in Scotland in 2012/13, a 9% increase on the previous year.

Much of the cash made available was injected into projects aimed at proving the commercial potential of new technologies in fields such as offshore wind, wave and tidal power.

During the year, the Crown Estate saw two Round 3 offshore wind zones off the Scottish coast progress to planning stage the first in the UK to achieve the milestone and it received the first application for a marine energy project as part of the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters programme.

It also said it had made progress in its ambition to help the offshore wind industry drive down costs by opening up a new leasing round for test and demonstration projects such as floating turbines.

The organisation said it had also signed the first lease agreement anywhere in the UK relating to carbon dioxide storage.

The licence allows CO2 from Peterhead power station to be transferred offshore and injected into the Goldeneye field in the central North Sea.

Scotland commissioner Gareth Baird said the last year had seen significant progress made in the development of Crown Estate assets north of the border.

He said: “Our work in Scotland delivers in key sectors such as offshore renewables, tourism, aquaculture and agriculture, supporting job creation, particularly in rural and coastal areas.

“Our UK-wide team and remit ensures our expertise and resources can be used to benefit Scotland, helping create and maximise new opportunities as they arise.

“In offshore renewables, we have worked to build and sustain the confidence of investors and developers, playing our part in meeting Scottish targets to reduce carbon emissions and generate green energy.”

The Crown Estate update came as the publicly-funded Green Investment Bank (GIB) held its first annual review meeting in Edinburgh.

The bank capitalised with £3bn of taxpayers’ money said it had made 11 investments between its launch in November and the end of March, spending £625m and catalysing a total investment of £2.265bn in schemes including biomass plants, offshore wind farms and energy efficiency projects at industrial and business premises.

Chief executive Shaun Kingsbury also stressed his bank would not shy away from potentially unpopular investments.