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Leasing Round 6 Engagement

The Crown Estate

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

20 Jul 2026 at 15:54

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Crown Estate is developing Offshore Wind Leasing Round 6, a future competitive process for awarding seabed rights around England, Wales and Northern Ireland for offshore wind farm development, construction and operation. This planning activity concerns the design of that leasing round and future leasing opportunities, rather than the supply of construction, electricity or wind-turbine services. It is aimed at existing and prospective offshore wind developers and project investors, including organisations intending to bid alone or through a consortium or other joint venture. The work relates to spatial design, the evolving market proposition and the development of the Information Memorandum. The Crown Estate manages the relevant seabed and is seeking perspectives from the offshore wind sector.

The procurement is at the planning stage and the buyer has not invited tenders. The expected approach is competitive tendering for a future leasing round, but this market engagement is not a call for competition and does not create a contract. Planned engagement includes a spatial design webinar on 23 July 2026, from 11:00 to 12:15, followed by feedback expected to close on 14 August 2026. Bilateral discussions with developers and investors are planned from July 2026 until near the release of the Information Memorandum, currently planned for the first half of 2027. An interim engagement date is set for 28 February 2027. The buyer has not set a formal launch date for Leasing Round 6. Interested organisations can register for engagement by emailing round6@thecrownestate.co.uk.

This preparatory engagement will suit offshore wind developers, project investors and consortium or joint-venture partners with the capacity and interest to bid in a future seabed leasing round. Relevant businesses are likely to have experience developing, financing or investing in offshore wind projects, together with the technical, commercial and organisational capability to support their development, construction and operation. The buyer is looking for individual and industry-wide views on spatial design, the market proposition and the structure of future leasing opportunities. Participation could help businesses prepare their positions and partnerships before the formal leasing process is launched. Organisations that missed a webinar may request an overview, while developers and investors can seek bilateral discussions to share their perspectives.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Leasing Round 6 Engagement

Notice Description

The Crown Estate, as manager of the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, periodically holds competitive tenders to award seabed rights for the development, construction and operation of offshore wind farms. In September 2024, The Crown Estate set out its approach to bringing such future tenders to market in its Future of Offshore Wind publication (Future of offshore wind | The Crown Estate). This was published alongside a report setting out our ambition to develop a Marine Delivery Routemap, which is intended to help enable a more holistic approach to be taken in relation to seabed development in the future. With the announcement in March 2026 of our intention to launch a new leasing round in 2027 (Offshore Wind Leasing Round 6) and building on the approach taken by The Crown Estate in previous leasing rounds, such as Offshore Wind Leasing Rounds 4 and 5, The Crown Estate is committed to engaging with a broad spectrum of market participants and other stakeholders through a series of webinars and questionnaires in 2026 to inform the development of its Leasing Round 6 and future leasing processes. In this context, The Crown Estate intends to undertake further preliminary market engagement in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023, in relation to the design of Leasing Round 6 and future leasing rounds, through the following activity which is targeted at existing and prospective offshore wind developers and project investors only. Spatial design Webinar - Thursday 23rd July 2026. This is planned to be a live presentation from The Crown Estate Spatial Design team, sharing the next stage of our spatial design process and some related information. We intend to provide an opportunity for attendees to participate in a live question and answer session. We are considering also offering attendees the opportunity to provide written feedback on the content of the webinar through an online link shared after the event. Bilateral discussions with developers and investors up until close to the date of the Information Memorandum (IM) being issued for Round 6, which is planned for the first half of 2027. The Crown Estate intends to hold a series of bilateral meetings with offshore wind developers and investors on the developing market proposition for Round 6 from July 2026. As there is no firm date yet for the Information Memorandum, an interim deadline for this engagement has been set for the 28 February 2027. The intention is that the webinar and bilateral discussions will provide The Crown Estate with further opportunities to gather individual and industry-wide perspectives, thereby ensuring that the evolving needs and priorities of the offshore wind sector as a whole can be taken into account by The Crown Estate when shaping Leasing Round 6 and future leasing opportunities. This market engagement is intended for existing and prospective offshore wind developers and investors only, i.e. those who have the capacity and interest in bidding in a leasing round, either as a sole bidder or as part of a consortium or other joint venture. If offshore wind project development and investment companies wish to participate in any of these market engagement events, then they should apply by sending an email to round6@thecrownestate.co.uk. The Crown Estate is also willing to have a session with any offshore wind developer or investor to provide an overview of any preliminary market engagement webinars they have missed or have a bilateral discussion. The Crown Estate intends to engage with other relevant stakeholders separately at appropriate times and in an appropriate way. The Crown Estate is in the process of designing future offshore wind leasing rounds, which these discussions will inform. There is currently no formal date for the launch of Offshore Wind Leasing Round 6. The date set out below (the "Engagement deadline") refers to the engagement activities which are the subject of this PME Notice, rather than any contract notice for a leasing process. For the avoidance of doubt, this notice is not a call for competition, and any subsequent procurement process will be commenced with one or more Tender Notice(s) in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023. The preliminary market engagement exercise is not an inducement to make any investment decision(s). For further information on The Crown Estate's involvement in offshore wind, please visit https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/our-business/marine/offshore-wind.

Planning Information

These engagement activities are targeted at offshore wind developers and investors only. For the webinar, registrations are limited to up to four representatives from each organisation. It is mandatory for any interested organisations who wish to attend to register their availability at the link sent by The Crown Estate as set out below. Details on how attendees can provide feedback on the webinar is expected to be discussed in the webinar and may share details with attendees after the event. Suppliers shall bear all their own costs in participating in this preliminary market engagement process. No contract(s) capable of acceptance shall be created until such time as The Crown Estate awards one or more contracts to supplier(s) following a procurement process. Spatial Design Webinar Preliminary Market Engagement Notice published. Interested offshore wind developers and investors register their interest for this event by emailing: round6@thecrownestate.co.uk Invites with registration link sent by The Crown Estate to offshore wind developers and investors that have submitted their expression of interest in participating. Invited parties confirm attendance through registration link and confirm names of their four (maximum) representatives. Webinar event meeting via Teams. The event is scheduled to take place on Thursday 23rd July 2026, 11:00 to 12:15. Intention for feedback on the webinar to be provided to attendees via a web link during the webinar afterwards, by email. The feedback window is expected to last a week, with the feedback platform closing on 14th August 2026. Bilateral engagement Preliminary Market Engagement Notice published. Interested offshore wind developers and investors register their interest for this event by emailing: round6@thecrownestate.co.uk Bilateral discussions with developers and investors ahead of the Information Memorandum (IM) for Round 6, which is planned for release in the first half of 2027

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06cf24
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/068382-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

09 - Petroleum products, fuel, electricity and other sources of energy

31 - Electrical machinery, apparatus, equipment and consumables; lighting

45 - Construction work

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

CPV Codes

09310000 - Electricity

31121320 - Wind turbines

31121340 - Wind farm

45200000 - Works for complete or part construction and civil engineering work

45315300 - Electricity supply installations

71500000 - Construction-related services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
20 Jul 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
20 Jul 2026 - 28 Feb 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
The Crown Estate
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1Y 4AH
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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