Crown Estate Scotland to launch new offshore wind leasing process

(Reuters) - The government company that manages the seabed around Scotland said on Wednesday it planned to launch in early 2022 a new auction for offshore wind farms that could power oil and gas installations to cut carbon dioxide emissions.

Since power generation accounts for about two-thirds of emissions from oil and gas production, using renewable energy could reduce emissions.

"This is an exciting development for the offshore wind sector which can play an important role in supporting the decarbonisation of Scotland's oil and gas sector as we work towards net zero," Crown Estate Scotland said in a statement.

Crown Estate Scotland said the new auction process will be separate from the ScotWind Leasing round launched last year and aimed at commercial scale offshore wind projects.

Its ScotWind leasing tender is its first for a decade and is aimed at supporting the development of around 10 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)