The Economic Impact of Crown Estate Scotland

Crown Estate Scotland supported its tenants to create an economic impact of £2.1 billion Gross Value Added (GVA) and almost 17,000 jobs in 2023/24. It is expected to unlock investment of up to £100 billion, mainly in offshore wind.

Crown Estate Scotland manages the Scottish Crown Estate, which includes around 50% of the foreshore, the seabed out to 12 nautical miles, around 37,000 hectares of land across four estates, and mineral rights across Scotland. In addition, on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, it manages the right of offshore renewable and gas storage to the seabed out to 200 nautical miles.

Its tenants operate in sectors as varied as farming, forestry and mining to aquaculture, offshore wind, tidal and carbon capture and storage to ports and marinas.

Its work is characterised by:

strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders;
a convening and bridging role, encouraging coordination and collaborations across organisations and sectors;
a strategic role in identifying and addressing needs of sectors and providing additional capacity to support their growth; and
a long-term and holistic view, that focuses on long-term prosperity.

Crown Estate Scotland’s tenants pay rent, and after excluding revenue from offshore wind leasing rounds, it had a revenue of £37.6 million in 2023/24. Crown Estate Scotland retains around 13% of this revenue (after adjustments) for reinvestment within the Estate. The remainder is transferred to the Scottish Government. Should Crown Estate Scotland be able to retain additional revenue, then it could contribute even more to the development of the Estate, Scotland and its sectors.

The tenants that the organisation enables, in sectors from farming to offshore wind, also generate significant economic impacts. In 2023, it is estimated that this enabled impact was £2.1 billion GVA and almost 17,000 jobs. The largest impacts arise from the marine energy (mainly offshore wind), marine aquaculture (particularly salmon farming) and coastal (mainly ports and harbours) sectors.

Crown Estate Scotland’s goal is to create lasting value for the people of Scotland

Crown Estate Scotland plays a key role in enabling and advancing future sectors, of which the largest by investment is offshore wind. Here it plays a key coordinating role, acting as a neutral agent with the power to convene different organisations and build trust across sectors. This enables the organisation to take actions that can address challenges and support the growth of these sectors for Scotland’s benefit.

A key example of this is in offshore wind, where Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind and Innovation Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing rounds have secured significant supply chain commitments and up to 36GW of additional capacity. Crown Estate Scotland has contributed to the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) and the Strategic Investment Model (SIM). This could support new manufacturing opportunities in a growing global supply chain.

Through offshore wind and other sectors, it is expected that £97.1 billion in investment could be enabled over the next 10-15 years. This could support £15.9 billion GVA and 21,600 jobs annually during development and construction, and £874 million GVA and 9,700 jobs during operation.

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