Who Owns ScotWind?
The ScotWind offshore leasing round marked a landmark moment for Scotland’s net zero journey. In 2022, Crown Estate Scotland awarded seabed rights to 20 offshore wind projects with a potential capacity of 30GW – then the world’s largest commercial round for floating offshore wind.
Rapidly scaling up renewable energy generation is of course essential. But how we do so – and who benefits – also matters. Central to this question is ownership. Securing a ScotWind lease is not just about the right to build and operate a wind farm – it also grants the right to capture the long-term financial returns these projects will generate. This in turn will determine who ultimately benefits from one of Scotland’s most crucial resources, and whether the transition to net zero is fair and just.
In collaboration with Common Wealth, today Future Economy Scotland is publishing our interactive map: ‘Who Owns ScotWind?’ The map below shows the location of all 20 ScotWind projects. Hovering over each project reveals key information, including the project owners and capacity, and the proportion of supply chain expenditure that has been committed to Scotland.
However, simply examining the immediate owners of ScotWind projects does not give the full picture of ownership. Many of these companies are subsidiaries of large multinational groups, which in turn are owned by large institutional investors, asset managers and other financial institutions.
Clicking each project in the map below reveals the top 10 ultimate shareholders of each ScotWind project, weighted by the proportion of capacity owned. Understanding who these ultimate shareholders are is crucial, because it reveals where the benefits of Scotland’s offshore wind will ultimately flow.
Our data further reveals that:
Nine ScotWind projects are owned either in whole or in part by foreign state-owned enterprises
These state-owned firms collectively own 12% of total ScotWind capacity, with the ultimate beneficiaries being their respective government owners. As shown in the table below, this includes national governments of Ireland, Sweden and Denmark, as well as regional and municipal governments in Germany and Belgium.
| Parent company | Country | Project ownership | Description | % of ScotWind capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EnBW AG | Germany | Morven (50%) | Energy utility company that is 93.5% owned by the State of Baden-Württemberg | 4.4% |
| Vattenfall | Sweden | Muir Mhor (50%) | Energy company that is 100% owned by the Swedish state | 1.3% |
| Aspiravi Holding NV | Belgium |
Bowdun (15%),
Ayre (15%) |
Holding company that is 100% owned by four regional holdings which collectively represent 94 Belgian cities and municipalities. | 1.0% |
| ESB Group | Ireland | Havbredey (24.5%), Spiorad na Mara (24.5%), Sealtainn (100%) | Electricity company that is 97.1% owned by the Irish government. | 3.5% |
| Ørsted AS | Denmark | Stromer (33.3%) | Energy company that is 50.1% owned by the Danish government. | 0.3% |
| Enodia SCRL | Belgium | Buchan (33.3%) | Energy company with ownership held entirely by a group of public entities in Belgium, primarily in the Walloon Region. | 1% |
| Total | 12% |
Note: A company is classified as ‘state-owned’ if a public sector entity holds a majority of the shares and voting rights.
Only four out of the 29 parent companies that own ScotWind developers are headquartered in the UK
These UK headquartered companies are BP, SSE, Shell and RIDG. Between them, the projects owned by these companies are expected to generate around 6.5GW of the total 30GW of capacity expected to be generated by ScotWind projects, equivalent to less than a quarter (22%). This means that more than three quarters of ScotWind capacity is owned by parent companies headquartered outside the UK.
Eight ScotWind projects are owned either in whole or in part by six fossil fuel companies
Six of the parent companies of ScotWind developers can be regarded as fossil fuel companies, due their extensive involvement with the exploration and production of oil and gas. These include Shell, BP and TotalEnergies, alongside the Japanese firms Marubeni and Mitsui & Co and the Norwegian company Aker ASA. Collectively, developers owned by these fossil fuel companies own a quarter (25%) of total ScotWind capacity.
The ultimate shareholders of ScotWind projects include the world’s biggest asset managers
The world’s biggest asset manager, BlackRock, is a top ten shareholder in 14 out of 20 ScotWind projects, while its rival Vanguard is a top ten shareholder in 15 out of 20 ScotWind projects.
In total, five large investment firms – BlackRock, Vanguard, JP Morgan Asset Management, Macquarie, and Quantum Capital Group – collectively own approximately 18% of ScotWind capacity, representing nearly a fifth of the total portfolio.
Explore the financial performance of ScotWind companies in more detail
The interactive chart below presents key historic financial information for each parent company that owns ScotWind developers. By selecting each company in the top right, you can explore the historic capital expenditure (capex), dividend payouts, tax paid and pre-tax profits of all parent companies of ScotWind projects. All figures are averages of the past five years, shown as a percentage of revenue.
A missed opportunity?
The above findings raise questions about how Scotland’s offshore wind resources are being managed and governed. While Crown Estate Scotland secured £755m of up-front option fees, this will be dwarfed by the long-term economic value created by Scotland’s offshore wind resources. The absence of public ownership means that the bulk of long-term profits will be exported abroad to foreign investors. Perversely, governments in neighbouring countries such as Ireland, Sweden, and Denmark stand to capture a larger share of ScotWind’s rewards than the Scottish Government itself.
Going forward, we are calling on the Scottish Government to take minority public equity stakes in offshore wind projects, ensuring that the Scottish public share in the benefits of our abundant natural resources.
To find out more on ScotWind ownership, and how future leasing rounds can be reformed, read Future Economy Scotland’s new report: Rethinking ScotWind: Maximising Scotland’s offshore wind potential.