Oil major BP plans to build a vast carbon capture project beneath the North Sea that would be crucial to Britain hitting its emissions targets. Power giant Orsted aims to build a huge offshore windfarm to help the country meet renewable goals.

The problem is, the seabed¡¯s double-booked, and something has to give.

Britain granted preliminary licenses for both proposed projects more than a decade ago, when an overlap of about 110 square kilometers on the sea floor wasn¡¯t seen as posing an insurmountable obstacle to either technology, according to planning documents reviewed by Reuters, the companies involved and U.K. authorities.