Record offshore capacity secured in CfD auction

Renewable industry leaders have welcomed the securing of a record 8.4GW of offshore wind capacity in the latest CfD round.

The Government said the results of the first auction under AR7 puts the country “firmly on track to deliver the mission for clean power by 2030”, as well as boosting security of supply and lowering bills.

It also said they demonstrated that offshore wind is cheaper to build and operate than new gas with capacity secured at £90.91 per megawatt hour on average, 40% cheaper than the cost of building and operating new gas.

The budget for fixed-bottom offshore wind was doubled from £900m to approximately £1.8 billion to secure extra capacity after record interest from developers.

Energy UK said the auction results will “deliver critical national infrastructure” that will strengthen energy security and boost economic growth. RenewableUK, said the UK had made the “right decision to roll out renewables at speed and at scale”.

Peter Lloyd-Williams, an analyst at Westwood Global Energy, said AR7 “represents a successfully executed process with a meaningful amount of capacity awarded at an acceptable price”.

The results of AR7a, covering technologies including onshore wind, solar and tidal power, are due early next month.