The Crown Estate's Round 3 programme was launched to help facilitate the delivery of the UK Government's plans for offshore wind generation capacity up to 2020.
This is the most advanced and ambitious programme to deliver significant renewable energy projects and will launch offshore wind into the mainstream of energy generation, providing at least 25% of the UK’s electricity generating capacity in little over a decade.
There must be a step change in the scale and pace of delivery in the offshore wind industry for the UK to:
1. combat climate change,
2. address increasingly volatile energy supplies,
3. maximise economic potential,
4. and meet EU targets.
In January 2010, The Crown Estate announced the successful bidders for each of the nine Round 3 zones. The SMart Wind consortium was awarded the 4GW Hornsea Zone off the Yorkshire coast. By working in partnership with The Crown Estate, stakeholders, industry and government, SMart Wind will deliver safe, cost-efficient, reliable and environmentally responsible projects by 2020.