Welcome to The Crown Estate
What we do
We manage the UK seabed out to the 12 nautical mile territorial sea limit and, under the 2008 Energy Act, hold the rights for gas storage within the gas importation and storage zone (GISZ), which extends out to the continental shelf.
-
Overview
Offshore natural gas storage has been taking place within UK waters, in the Rough field, since 1983. By 2015, capacity is likely to be around twice the present capacity. Forecasts of the capacity required by 2020 to ensure security of gas supply during peak demand winter months vary widely, but a value of around four times current developed capacity is not unreasonable.
Government policy is to promote more offshore storage to assist with security of supply. Developers of offshore projects need to be aware that both a storage licence (from DECC) and a storage lease (from us) are required, as set out in the 2008 Energy Act. Effectively this requirement separates the regulatory and proprietary roles.
Useful documents
- Offshore gas storage master agreement for lease (PDF, 227 KB)
- Offshore gas storage master lease (PDF, 269 KB)
- The Crown Estate role in offshore renewable energy (PDF, 169 KB)