Greenpeace UK has today written to the Crown Estate threatening legal action over the way it leases plots on the seabed to offshore wind developers.

The group said the bidding process leads to developers paying ‘extortionate’ fees for plots on which to build new wind farms, and that the Crown Estate is exploiting its monopoly of the seabed.

The challenge focuses on the Morgan Offshore Wind Project off the coast of Lancashire in the Irish Sea. The previous developers pulled out of the 1.5GW project in January, and the Crown Estate announced in July it was seeking a new developer before the end of this year.

Will McCallum, co-executive director of Greenpeace UK said: “The Crown Estate is acting like the cat that got the cream. Its role may be to extract profit from the King’s land, but that must not be at the expense of the common good. Accelerating homegrown renewable energy is the aim of this government and the solution to sky-high energy bills, so why is the estate cranking up costs for developers and households? Its latest plan to auction the Morgan site shows it remains intent on milking the seabed for every last penny of profit. The Chancellor should step in and put a cap on these fees to help lower bills and stop this outrageous profiteering”

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