An auction of seabed plots for major offshore wind projects around the Scottish coast has netted £700m.
Seventeen projects covering a total of 7,000km2 have been chosen in the first such leasing round in a decade.
They have a combined potential generating capacity of 25GW – well above the expected auction outcome of 10GW.
Scotland has 1.9GW of operational offshore wind, and another 8.4GW in construction or advanced development.
The ScotWind leasing auction attracted more than 70 bids from major oil companies, utility firms and investment funds from around the world.
Most of the sites are on the east, northeast or northern coast, with just one on the western side of Scotland.
Successful bidders include Scottish Power, which won the seabed rights to develop three new offshore wind farms with a total capacity of 7GW.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-60002110