The Crown Estate has updated the Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 timeline due to the current COVID-19 situation.
The Invitation to Tender (ITT) phase is now expected to open the week commencing 30 March, and the submission period has been extended by three weeks to afford bidders additional time to respond.
The Crown Estate emphasized it will continue to monitor the wider national and international situation and will provide further updates, where necessary, as the situation develops.
This latest offshore wind leasing round kicked off in October 2019 with the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ).
Round 4 will offer seabed rights for at least 7GW of new projects in the waters around England and Wales.
The projects will come forward across at least three bidding areas, with a maximum of 3.5GW within any one area. The lease terms have been extended from 50 to 60 years, enough for two full project lifecycles.