Crown Estate Scotland has gone out to tender with a contract for an Operators Panel Manager for the Scottish Wave & Tidal Operators Agreement with an estimated value of £276,000 excluding VAT.
Crown Estate Scotland (CES) intends to appoint an independent Operators Panel Manager (OPM) to support the governance, coordination and operation of the Operators Panel associated with the Scottish Wave and Tidal Power Operators Agreement.
The Operators Agreement provides a governance framework that protects early developers’ resource rights and defines how potential impacts of new developments on existing projects are managed. It unifies the previous Scottish Territorial Waters and Pentland Firth & Orkney Waters Operator Agreements into a single agreement, overseen by the Operators Panel and supported by an independent panel chair appointed under the OPM contract.
The OPM will act as a neutral chair, coordinate communications between Operators, and support business as usual obligations contained within the Agreement. Activities will include the facilitation of technical workstreams and management of working groups, with workload varying over the term as sector needs evolve.
Aim of the procurement is to secure a supplier who will:
- Provide independent, neutral facilitation and chairing of the Operators Panel, maintaining an agreed governance process and accurate records.
- Coordinate Operators, technical experts and CES to progress the Agreement’s obligations and technical work programme.
- Manage and continue to develop CES’ tidal and wave technical work programmes and associated technical working groups, ensuring outputs meet the needs of the Panel.
- Monitor specified external projects which directly contribute to the delivery of thetechnical work programmes and provide concise progress reporting and recommendations to CES.
- Review Operator Adverse Impact Assessments when required by CES
Main site or place of performance is Scotland – primarily remote delivery, with in-person meetings required in the Scottish Central Belt.
Crown Estate Scotland manages land, coastline, seabed and property on behalf of the Scottish people, with a remit to generate long-term economic, social and environmental value.
Initial contract term will be two years, with the option to extend for a further three years on an incremental basis. The maximum contract term will be 5 years (including extensions).
Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is 12:00pm on 29 April 2026
For the tender process Scotland Excel is acting on behalf of Crown Estate Scotland but will not be party to the contract or the management of the contract throughout its lifetime.
Click here for more information and to register interest via the Public Contracts Scotland portal.
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