Scotland to earn £260m from floating windfarms powering North Sea rigs

Crown estate leases seabed rights to new projects as oil firms look to replace gas and diesel generators

The Scottish government will earn more than £260m after agreeing to lease areas of its seabed to floating offshore wind projects that can power oil and gas rigs.

In a world first, Crown Estate Scotland gave the green light for companies to help trim the North Sea’s carbon emissions by developing floating windfarms that can directly supply oil and gas platforms with renewable electricity.