Greenpeace: crown estate drives up offshore wind cost

Greenpeace is threatening to sue King Charles's property management company, accusing it of exploiting its monopoly ownership of the seabed.

- Lauren Almeida

The environmental lobby group alleges the crown estate has driven up costs for wind power developers and boosted its own profits, as well as the royal household's income, owing to the “aggressive” way it auctions seabed rights.

The crown estate, as the legal owner of the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is responsible for auctioning offshore wind rights. It has benefited from the huge growth in the industry, commanding hefty option fees from renewable energy developers to secure areas of the seabed to build their windfarms. It made a £1.1bn profit in the financial year to March, double that of two years ago.