King Charles has promised profits from the Crown Estates’ wind farms will be placed in public hands after energy prices skyrocketed last year.
Millions could be diverted from the Royal Family and given to the Treasury as a result, with Charles suggesting it would be better used for the “wider public good”.
Currently, the Crown Estate, worth some £16.5bn in March 2022, sees its profits largely donated to the Treasury, which then gives 25% back as part of the sovereign grant to pay for the Royal Family.
Buckingham Palace suggested profits from offshore wind could be excluded from the treasury’s calculation this year, given the “offshore energy windfall”.
"In view of the offshore energy windfall, the keeper of the privy purse has written to the prime minister and chancellor to share the King's wish that this windfall is directed for the wider public good, rather than to the Sovereign Grant, through an appropriate reduction in the proportion of Crown Estate surplus," the Palace said in a statement.
Last year, the royal family received £86.3mln from the grant, but the cut from the Treasury will likely fall back to its original 15% this year, after repairs on Buckingham Palace have been finished.
As of March 2022, the Crown Estate’s offshore wind capacity amounted to 10.8GW, accounting for roughly a quarter of the total UK pipeline of 43GW at the time.
Wind power prices shot up last year though, as Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, dragged up by the cost of gas due to market arrangements connecting the two.
In 2022, wholesale energy costs averaged £200/MWh, up from £113/MWh in 2021 and £35/MWh in 2020.