Request:
Thank you for confirming via telecon that CES will forward onto me a list of all ScotWind Applicants, 74 in total, who submitted bids to secure seabed rights in the first round of Offshore WInd Leasing in Scottish waters.
Response:
The ScotWind applicants who have been offered option agreements can be found on our website. Please see here: https://www.crownestatescotland.com/news/scotwind-offshore-wind-leasing-delivers-major-boost-to-scotlands-net-zero-aspirations
The list of unsuccessful applicants is exempt from disclosure under Section 33(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. This exemption states that information may be withheld if disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person or organisation.
Currently, the leasing round is still live, and we are still negotiating contracts with applicants. In this process, the defeated applicants may apply for clearing. This process has not yet concluded; therefore, we have applied the exemption in Section 33(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to the list of unsuccessful applicants as the release of this information could disrupt the process which would prejudice the commercial interests of Crown Estate Scotland.
Following a public interest test, it has been assessed that the public interest does not outweigh the commercial confidentiality of the list of unsuccessful applicants and therefore the exemption in Section 33(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 applies. This decision has been made as it is believed that the information requires to remain confidential while the ScotWind leasing process is still live and while contracts are still being negotiated in order to prevent the legitimate economic interests of Crown Estate Scotland being compromised.
Please refer to our website for more information regarding the clearing process: https://www.crownestatescotland.com/news/scotwind-clearing-process-procedural-update
