The UK has awarded 3.7 GW of renewable capacity in its latest Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction round, significantly less than for 2022’s CfD round, where 11 GW were awarded. For 2023, 1.9 GW of solar capacity and 1.5 GW of onshore wind capacity were awarded. No offshore wind capacity was awarded for this round. In addition, 53 MW of tidal stream and 12 MW of geothermal capacity were allocated.
For solar, around 400 MW is to be delivered in 2025-2026, 150 MW in 2026-2027 and nearly 1.4 GW in 2027-2028. The price for all projects was established at £47/MWh (nearly €55/MWh). The largest successful project (57 MW, undisclosed name) is being developed by Enso in England. For onshore wind, a total of 24 wind parks were awarded government support contracts at a strike price of £52.29/MWh (€61/MWh). All awarded contracts are located in Scotland, except for one in Wales. SSE Renewables secured support for the largest project, the 231 MW Strathy South wind park in northern Scotland.
The absence of offshore wind contrasts greatly with 2022’s CfD round, where 7 GW of offshore wind capacity was awarded by the UK Government. Both fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind have gone without CfDs, while both sectors had warned that the £44/MWh and £114/MWh price caps (€51/MWh and €133/MWh) were too low amid cost increases reaching 40%. The absence of offshore wind might hinder the UK’s plan to reach 50 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 (13.8 GW as of end-2022).
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