The main Scottish body for renewable energy has called for "stability and continuity" as the devolved UK nation looks to take over management of the Crown Estate's assets in Scotland, including the rights to build and run renewables projects on its seabeds.
As a three-month consultation begins, Scottish ministers believe devolution of the management and revenues of the Crown Estate in Scotland could "change the fabric of Scottish society".
The Crown Estate is responsible for leasing areas of the seabed - up to 12 nautical miles (22.2km) offshore - granting project rights for wind, wave and tidal energy developments, telecommunications cables, and oil and gas pipelines.
Recent big decisions made by the body in the offshore wind sector include last year's granting of a lease to allow the pioneering Hywind Scotland 30MW floating wind farm to advance.
The devolution process will be carried out in two stages. The first phase will see the Crown Estate Scotland (Interim Management) established as a public corporation, taking on the asset management role from 1 April 2017, subject to completion of the transfer of powers from the Westminster government in London.
The second phase involves a 12-week consultation - closing on 29 March - that will help inform the Scottish government on the long-term future of the Crown Estate. Final enabling legislation to establish a new management structure is expected to be passed in 2019.
"There are broadly three Scottish government models of what the Crown Estate might look like in the future," said Ronnie Quinn, general manager, the Crown Estate Scotland portfolio.
The first option is to retain the overall management at a Scottish level similar to what is in place today, while the second is to devolve power to local authorities and communities in Scotland.
However, politicians are known to favour a hybrid version of these two, resulting in proposed developments being considered on a case-by-case basis.
"Scottish Renewables believes two core principles must underlie the Crown Estate's transfer process. These are the stability and continuity of service delivery, and the delivery of competitive renewables projects in Scottish waters," Lindsay Roberts, senior policy manager at Scottish Renewables, told Recharge.
"We, therefore, support the Scottish government's proposals for interim management of Crown Estate assets, and associated rights and liabilities, being undertaken by a single entity with the aim of ensuring service delivery is maintained from day one of the transfer," she added.
A Crown Estate Scotland spokeswoman told Recharge that all current offshore wind leases and agreements will automatically transfer over to the new organisation, once it is in place.
The decision for the Scottish government to take full control of the Crown Estate's assets north of the border was part of an increased devolution of power promised after the 'No' vote in the Scottish independence referendum, held in 2014.
The Queen will continue to own the Crown Estate on behalf of the nation. The value of Crown Estate property in Scotland was £271.8m and gross revenue was £14m in 2015/2016.
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