By Jay Sheppard, Marine Energy Wales
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend The Crown Estate’s Marine Delivery Routemap workshop. This two-day event brought together representatives from every corner of the UK’s marine sectors to help shape a shared vision for how we plan, manage, and make best use of our seas.
Marine Energy Wales was invited to represent Welsh offshore renewable energy interests, alongside colleagues from across shipping, ports, defence, environmental bodies, and other marine industries.
The irony of meeting in Loughborough, about as far from the coast as you can get, was not lost on anyone. Yet the conversations inside the room could not have been more connected to the sea.
A New Era of Openness
The workshop formed part of a conscious effort by The Crown Estate to “do more of their homework in public.” As Gus Jaspert, Managing Director of Marine at The Crown Estate, put it, we are moving into an “era of radical transparency” where the stewardship of the seabed is becoming more collaborative, data-driven, and open to scrutiny.
The Routemap itself is built around three foundations:
- Shared evidence – improving access to geospatial data and mapping.
- Shared purpose – aligning around a clear, cross-sector vision for UK seas.
- Shared delivery – building partnerships to make that vision real.
This represents a modernisation of The Crown Estate’s role, moving from a gatekeeper of seabed rights toward a convener, collaborator, and systems thinker.
The Scale and Complexity of the Challenge
One theme resonated throughout the opening panel, which brought together voices from the Marine Management Organisation, UK Major Ports Group, Defra, Ministry of Defence, National Energy System Operator (NESO) and others: the spatial squeeze.
As more activities such as offshore wind, tidal stream, CCUS, cables, and nature recovery compete for limited marine space, the need for integrated, whole-system thinking has become urgent.
Ports were described as “the nexus between land and sea,” and the complexity of devolved marine planning was a recurring point. The challenge is no longer just about physical constraints or technology; it is about coordination, conversation, and trust between sectors.
Devolution, as several speakers noted, has added layers of complexity but has also created opportunities for tailored, place-based approaches. The task now is to simplify, not by erasing those differences, but by making it easier to invest, collaborate, and co-locate.
Co-location and the Promise of Integration
A recurring theme was co-location: the idea that multiple activities can share the same marine space, sometimes to mutual benefit.
The workshop included a live demonstration of the Marine Delivery Routemap (MDR) platform, which is currently in development and will be launched publicly as a web platform in spring 2026. It introduces concepts such as:
- Potential Areas of Opportunity (PAOs): zones where activity for a given sector could take place up to 2050.
- Focus Areas: shorter-term priority zones of interest.
The platform’s design encourages participation. The more people contribute data, the more advanced the tools become, and the stronger the evidence base grows. It is a true flywheel effect.
Alongside presentations and live demos, the workshop included a series of breakout sessions where participants from across sectors rolled up their sleeves, shared ideas, and explored how to improve collaboration in practice. The post-it notes and group discussions reflected the breadth of ambition and creativity that exists across the marine community.
Why It Matters
What struck me most was the openness of the discussion, even between sectors with competing interests. There was a shared recognition that the scale and pace of the energy transition demand a new way of working: one that embraces transparency, dialogue, and a whole-system perspective.
If this is what the next phase of marine planning looks like – collaborative, evidence-driven, and rooted in shared purpose – then it is a promising sign for how we will meet the challenges ahead.
At Marine Energy Wales, we will continue to engage with this process and ensure that Wales’ marine renewable energy sector has a strong voice in shaping the future of our seas.