The Crown Estate is proceeding with its Capacity Increase Programme to maximise the potential of existing offshore wind lease areas, potentially generating enough energy to power up to four million homes and create economic growth for the UK.

An additional 4.7GW of energy could be generated from the delivery of the programme by amending existing seabed rights to increase the capacity of seven fixed-bottom offshore windfarms located around England and Wales.

The projects were awarded rights in either The Crown Estate’s Offshore Wind Leasing Round 3 or The Crown Estate’s 2017 Offshore Wind Extensions opportunity. All seven projects have existing grid connections and infrastructure which will enable swift deployment and are within pre-established offshore wind sites.

They are: Awel y Môr, Dudgeon Extension, Sheringham Shoal Extension, North Falls, Five Estuaries, Rampion 2 and Dogger Bank D.

The decision will help the Government’s target of up to 50GW of clean energy from offshore wind deployed by 2030. Currently, the UK has nearly 15GW of offshore wind deployed off its coasts.

Established through an Act of Parliament, The Crown Estate recently announced a modernising of its legislation (The Crown Estate Act 2025) which grants greater flexibility for investment and borrowing.

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