The UK could double its offshore wind capacity in this year’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction round, revealed a new report by RenewableUK.
According to the ‘EnergyPulse Insighs Offshore Wind’ report, there are 14 examples of wind projects whose developers can bid for support in this year’s CfD Allocation Round 6 (AR6), which is scheduled to open on the 27 March.
These wind farms have a combined capacity of almost 10.3GW, and should bids be made for all of these projects, this would break the previous record for capacity bid in a funding round. This was set in 2022, when seven projects totalling 8.5GW of offshore wind capacity were eligible for support.
According to RenewableUK, these projects are:
- Norfolk Vanguard West and Norfolk Vanguard East (2,760MW)
- Hornsea Four (2,600MW)
- Awel y Môr (1,100MW)
- East Anglia TWO (900MW)
- East Anglia ONE North (800MW)
- Hornsea Three (753.1MW)
- Seagreen 1A (500MW)
- East Anglia THREE (318MW)
- Inch Cape (270MW)
- Pentland (floating project) (100MW)
- Erebus (floating project) (100MW)
- Blyth 2 (floating project) (58MW)
- Forthwind (test and demonstration site) (8MW)
In addition to this capacity, RenewableUK revealed that a further 4.7GW of new offshore wind capacity could become eligible before the auction opens in March, bringing the total potential capacity eligible for AR6 to 14.9GW, more than the 14.7GW of capacity currently operational in the UK today.
The immense potential for the coming allocation round has led RenewableUK to urge the UK government to “aim high to maximise the amount of capacity we can secure” when setting out the overall budget and parameters of AR6 next month.
Although these projects may be eligible, there is no guarantee that their developers will bid in AR6, making attractive incentives paramount to the success of the allocation round and avoiding a situation similar to that which happened during AR5, when there were no bids made for no offshore wind projects due to low strike prices.
“Our latest EnergyPulse report highlights the enormous opportunity which the Government has to strengthen the UK’s energy security, with a record number of new offshore wind farms eligible to bid into this year’s clean power auction, and a record amount of new capacity,” said Dan McGrail, chief executive at RenewableUK.
“As offshore wind farms are one of our cheapest sources of new power for billpayers, we’re urging ministers to be ambitious when they set out the auction budget and parameters next month. If this is done in the right way, we can secure billions in private investment, driving the growth of the UK’s offshore wind supply chain and new jobs in the sector.”
“The report also shows that offshore wind is ramping up worldwide at an astonishing pace – and that despite fierce global competition, the UK continues to be a world leader in this vital technology. In this year’s auction, we have the potential to prove again that Britain is one of the best places to invest in new offshore wind projects”.
