It can come as no surprise that environmental considerations are central to the decisions governments take when allocating offshore wind licenses.

Norway recently announced a 4-phase process. Potential licensees must first pre-qualify by demonstrating financial capability, technical expertise experience and their HSE considerations. If successful, they will be permitted to advance to an auction round, expected to be launched in H1 2022 and completed in H1 2023. The 3 subsequent phases of planning and government assessment mean that construction is unlikely until late 2026. Clearly, any company group who does not present a robust environmental case during phase 1 will be frozen out of a lengthy process that could mean a long wait for another opportunity.

For the current Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4 covering England and Wales, potential participants also need to make strong cases for their consideration for the environment during the tendering stage for their projects to pass the final Plan-level Habitats Regulations Assessment undertaken by The Crown Estate. The Habitat Regulations are aimed at protecting certain habitats and species through a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species together with some rare natural habitat types which are protected in their own right.

It is therefore imperative that potential licensees, together with their entire supply chains, recruit HSE specialists with the expertise to deliver solutions where environmental considerations are central to all activities.

The offshore oil and gas sector has pioneered HSE management and offers offshore wind licensees an accelerated route to operational capability based on its decades of experience in delivering offshore projects.