Exclusive:SNP's flagship ScotWind projects being investigated by Scotland's spending watchdog
The SNP government’s ScotWind projects will be looked at by Scotland’s spending watchdog.
Scotland's spending watchdog has launched an investigation into the SNP's flagship ScotWind projects amid fears the £750 million raised from leasing the seabed has been “frittered away” to balance the books.
Audit Scotland has begun "early scoping work" on a probe into the ScotWind offshore projects - with the investigation to sit alongside a "performance audit" of the renewable energy sector.
SNP ministers have been accused of “squandering” Scotland’s offshore wind potential and are now facing accusations over the “botched handling” of the ScotWind projects.
Four years ago, Nicola Sturgeon revealed that around £700m had been generated by Crown Estate Scotland from leasing the seabed for 17 renewable energy projects - while three additional clearing developments took the total revenue up to £755m
Ms Sturgeon argued that the agreements were "transformational", adding that the scale of investment was "truly historic".
At the time, opposition politicians claimed that the Scottish government should have been able to tally up more funding for the lease agreements, despite the big investment poised to come from supply chain and manufacturing associated with the projects.
But in recent months, the ScotWind projects have been beset by problems.
In November, oil giant Shell handed back its lease for the 3GW CampionWind project to Crown Estate Scotland, with the energy giant having paid £86m for the licence that was expected to generate around £3bn of Scottish-based investment.
READ MORE: Shell hands back ScotWind lease risking £3bn of Scottish investment amid 'fierce headwinds'
Last month, a consortium including French oil and gas giant, Total Energies, paused plans for the 125-turbine West of Orkney ScotWind project, warning it would not go ahead without an overhaul of “unfair” transmission charges.
SNP ministers have also come under fire for using the ScotWind pot of revenue to help balance the books for day-to-day spending - with more than £160m of the fund already used.
Last month, The Scotsman revealed that the Scottish government is poised to drain £286m from the fund over the next two financial years.
Of the £538m remaining of the funds, £50m is being used to support day-to-day revenue funding in the 2026-27 budget while according to official Scottish government documents “a further £488m is planned to be deployed across the rest of the spending review period” up to 2030.
As well as an investigation into the ScotWind projects, Audit Scotland is carrying out a "performance audit” on renewable energy, with the scope of that investigation including whether SNP ministers have “set out a clear rationale and sound approach” for investment and whether the programme is “on track to achieve its aims”.
Both pieces of Audit Scotland work are expected to be published in the autumn.
Scottish Labour net zero spokesperson, Sarah Boyack, said: “Scotland has the potential to be a clean energy superpower, but the SNP is squandering those opportunities.
“There is no clearer example of the SNP’s lack of ambition than the ScotWind fiasco.”
She added: “The seabeds were sold off on the cheap and then hundreds of millions of pounds of revenue was frittered away plug the SNP budget blackholes.
READ MORE: Fears SNP's ScotWind at risk of collapse without Chinese firm MingYang's Highlands factory approval
“It is right that Audit Scotland investigate this issue and get answers on what exactly happened here.“
Douglas Lumsden, Scottish Conservative energy spokesperson, said: “An investigation by Audit Scotland into the SNP’s botched handling of ScotWind should alarm taxpayers across Scotland.
“This was meant to be a national windfall, yet ministers have squandered it and funnelled the proceeds into propping up their day-to-day spending.
“Once again, the SNP have treated Scotland’s energy riches like a party slush fund.
“Scotland deserves better than secrecy, short-termism and financial incompetence at the heart of government.”
A Crown Estate Scotland spokesperson said: “We welcome the news of the Auditor General for Scotland’s interest in ScotWind leasing. The Scottish government has already benefited from £755m in option fees - which were for 10-year option agreements, not one-off sales – and will receive annual multi-million-pound payments once projects begin operating.
“In addition, the ambition of ScotWind offers Scotland the opportunity to be a world leader in fixed, floating and deepwater offshore wind and has underpinned the significant effort on supply chain and investment within Scotland and across the UK in recent years.
“Current supply chain forecasts indicate an average Scottish commitment of £1.5bn per project. The potential long-term economic and social benefit to Scotland, of an industry of this scale, is transformational."
An Audit Scotland spokesperson said: “We have recently started early scoping work on ScotWind and plan to report in Autumn 2026.
“Our planned work will include engaging with Crown Estate Scotland and the Scottish government. This audit will be in addition to a performance audit on renewable energy.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “ScotWind revenues give us the flexibility to invest in long-term benefits for Scotland and to help strengthen the limited financial levers we currently have under the fiscal framework from the UK government.
“We look forward to engaging with Audit Scotland once the full scope of their report is confirmed.”
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