Crown Estate Scotland (CES) has today (10 August), officially opened a two-week registration window ahead of the upcoming INTOG North Sea auction.  

Viewed as a means to assist in the decarbonisation of oil and gas installations and to help Scotland meet emissions reduction targets, the hope is that INTOG will also boost Scotland’s profile as a destination for innovation and technical expertise.  

The INTOG auction will invite applications up until the 18 November 2022 deadline and will be split into two distinct streams:

• Innovation (IN) projects in respect of seabed rights for small-scale innovation projects, and 
• Targeted oil and gas (TOG) projects in respect of seabed rights for offshore wind projects.  

The two streams will run in parallel but are to be considered entirely distinct from one another.  

The particular areas of seabed to which developers can apply are set out in the Scottish Government’s Initial Plan Framework.  It is anticipated that auction results will be announced in March 2023 depending on the volume and quality of submissions, with exclusivity agreements to follow thereafter. 

As part of the bidding process, and before any developer can enter into any Option Agreement, prospective developers are required to submit a “Supply Chain Development Statement” (SCDS). This statement should outline a variety of key aspects in respect of any proposed supply chain including information on the nature and location of proposed people and skills linked to the project.  This requirement for submission of a SCDS mirrors the requirement placed on bidders for the earlier ScotWind leasing round (ScotWind and INTOG are separate processes).         

Following the two-week registration window, which closes on 24 August 2022, the application window will open to those registered developers.  

For more information on the INTOG auction, please follow this link to the CES offer document.