- The United Kingdom launches the biggest known “Contracts for Difference” renewables auction.
- The contract has a total sum of £285 million yearly for grabs.
The UK Government has kicked off its largest-ever “Contracts for Difference” renewable energy auction. The scheme is in its fourth round and will provide £200m annually to offshore wind, £24m to floating offshore wind, £20million for tidal, and support for onshore wind and solar projects.
With a target of 12GW of new projects, the 4th round of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme seeks a larger capacity than the three previous rounds combined, a capacity large enough to power eight million homes.
The Contracts for Difference comprises 15-year private law contracts between electricity generators and the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC). This government-owned company manages CfDs at arm’s length from the government.
The UK Government said the fourth CfD round is expected to be a “major step” towards delivering the country’s target of 40GW of offshore wind by 2030. The round will close to applications on January 14, 2022, with final results expected to be announced in spring-summer.