OWD - Investment Portfolio for Compensation

The Offshore Wind Directorate is considering commissioning a suitable contractor (or consortium) to develop an implementation roadmap for a suite of strategic compensation measures for seabirds suitable for investment relevant to Scottish offshore wind projects. This suite of measures is intended to be available as potential compensation, under the Habitats Regulations, for the environmental impacts of offshore wind development in Scotland. The increase in scale of Scottish offshore wind development will increase the cumulative pressure on the marine environment, including on protected networks of sites, in particular Special Protection Areas for seabirds. Given the potential magnitude of these impacts associated with the ScotWind and INTOG leasing rounds, we may therefore need to compensate (under the Habitats Regulations) for these impacts at a strategic level. We anticipate that the successful contractor for this project will be asked to examine a succinct list of compensatory measures, which could range from “like-for-like” measures that are directly linked to impacted seabird populations, to wider compensatory measures which would improve the overall condition and resilience of the marine environment but not necessarily directly benefit affected seabird populations. This project would require the successful contractor to liaise with a wide range of stakeholders and experts across Scotland and the UK to identify and describe in detail the key steps and components involved in delivery of a successful programme of compensatory measures for seabirds. It would culminate in a detailed step-by-step implementation roadmap to deliver each compensatory measure, including (but not limited to): · practical steps/logistics for delivery, the potential level of compensation provided (along with an estimate of uncertainty), outline of the monitoring required to determine the level of success of a measure, estimated costs of delivery of measures, estimated costs of monitoring the success of an implemented measure, timings and interdependencies, skills, expertise and resource required, risks/opportunities etc. This work is needed urgently and we anticipate this project to commence during the Summer 2025 and run for approximately five (5) months (including time taken for Scottish Government review and sigh off on the final recommendation. Sign off is expected to be 2 x 3 week review periods). Interested parties are requested to register their interest by reviewing and completing the linked Microsoft Form - Supplier Engagement questionnaire. Depending on the level of interest generated by this Prior Information Notice, the Scottish Government reserves the right to host a Suppliers’ Day. Additional information: It is envisaged that a single service provider, or consortium shall be appointed following a competitive tender exercise for the future service.