- The UK government has awarded contracts for 131 renewable energy projects, totalling 9.6 GW of power.
- Despite this, the overall capacity from this auction is lower than in previous years, with offshore wind projects falling short of the government’s 2030 targets.
In a landmark achievement for the renewable energy sector, the UK government has secured a record 131 new projects, amounting to 9.6 gigawatts (GW) of green power through its latest Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction.
Despite the high number of awarded schemes, the total generation capacity from this auction falls short compared to previous years. In 2022, for instance, the government announced 11GW of successful bids.
This latest auction includes nine new offshore wind farms, a notable increase from last year’s zero. Hornsea 3 and 4 off the Yorkshire coast will become Europe’s most prominent and second-largest wind farm projects. The auction also features a substantial increase in solar and onshore wind projects, with 115 new schemes compared to the previous round.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband praised the results, emphasising their significance for the UK’s energy security and the clean energy transition. He noted, “This auction marks a significant step forward in our mission to achieve clean power by 2030, enhancing Britain’s energy independence and reducing bills.
Miliband highlighted the record number of solar projects and the advancements in offshore wind, including the most significant commercial floating offshore wind project globally, and emphasised the recovery of the offshore industry after last year’s setbacks.
The CfD auctions, introduced in 2015, are designed to encourage renewable energy development by offering a guaranteed rate for the electricity produced. This mechanism ensures developers can recover costs even if market prices fall below the guaranteed rate.
This year’s auction follows the recent reversal of the onshore wind ban and the establishment of Great British Energy, a state-owned investment firm with an £8.3 billion fund for renewable projects.
However, the auction’s total generation capacity was lower than in previous years, with offshore wind projects totalling just 5GW, down from 7GW in 2022. This falls short of the annual targets to meet the government’s 50GW of new offshore wind capacity by 2030. Greenpeace UK’s political campaigner, Ami McCarthy, called for a more extensive auction next year and investments in grid connections, planning, and storage to address these shortfalls.
Despite last year’s absence of offshore wind contracts, this year’s results mark a recovery for the sector, which has seen substantial price reductions and increased output since the CfD auctions began. The latest round includes the world’s largest floating offshore wind project, Green Volt, which is twice the size of Europe’s current floating offshore wind capacity, and six new tidal projects.