04 Sep Latest CfD round will support multiple clean energy projects
The latest Contract for Difference (CfD) auction has generated the biggest return yet, with over 130 projects due to be delivered, including the world’s largest floating offshore project and Europe’s largest offshore wind farm.
The new CfD auction results were announced this week and include 131 green energy projects within the funding round. The projects represent significant success for offshore wind, solar and tidal, with all the projects expected to generate enough green energy to power 11 million UK properties once operation begins. The new Government allocated £1.5 billion towards the latest sets of CfD auctions, representing an uplift of over 50% compared to the previous figures.
The increase in allocation has generated the biggest CfD auction, exceeding the 92 projects delivered in the last auction round. There were no successful bids by offshore wind developers in the previous auction, as the industry focused on tackling inflation pressures within global supply chains.
Government figures showed that nine contracts were awarded to offshore wind projects for this CfD allocation, including Europe’s largest and second largest windfarm projects, Hornsea 3 and Hornsea 4 situated off the Yorkshire coastline.
Furthermore, the largest floating offshore wind project, Green Volt, was selected as a successful applicant. When completed, Green Volt will consist of 35 floating wind turbines off the Scottish coastline, generating up to 560MW of renewable energy capacity. This project is forecast to double the scale of Europe’s total installed floating offshore wind capacity once operational.
Energy Secretary Ed Milliband explained that the new government had taken over a broken energy policy with a previous auction round that failed to secure any offshore wind projects. Today, the government is prioritising renewable energy and pursuing a path towards energy independence and clean power by 2030.
The Labour government is focused on decarbonising the UK’s power grid by 2030 and aims to quadruple offshore wind capacity, treble solar capacity and double onshore wind capacity this decade. In recent years, the UK experienced a decline in its position for international clean energy investment. After the latest allocation, many green organisations believe an increased CfD pot could drive further investment interest and accelerate progress towards achieving renewable energy capacity targets. Milliband highlights that the latest results indicate that the government and energy industry have prioritised investment in the UK. This auction produced a record number of solar projects, continued to support onshore wind and secured the largest commercial floating offshore wind project in the world.
The government intends to continue to drive forward with the clean power plan, for 2030 and work closely with the industry to deliver further success in providing clean energy for the nation.
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