Queen's property manager banks huge windfarm bonanza

Offshore seabed auction lands 4bn over 10 years for Treasury and Crown Estate prompting calls for green sovereign wealth fund

The Queen and the Treasury are in line for a multibillion-pound bonanza from renewable energy, after a major auction of seabed plots for windfarms off the coasts of England and Wales attracted runaway bids.

The crown estate, which manages the monarch's property portfolio, holds exclusive rights to lease the seabed around the British Isles. With its first auction of windfarm licences in a decade understood to have reached record highs, the Queen's income is expected to leap by at least 100m a year, while the takings will generate over 300m a year for the Treasury.