RenewableUK is welcoming the Government’s announcement that onshore wind projects will be allowed to compete for contracts to generate clean power. A new Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction will allow cheap renewable sources like onshore wind and solar to compete for contracts which enable new projects to be financed – the first such auction since 2015.
In order to meet UK’s net zero emissions target, the Committee on Climate Change advised Government that the UK needs to quadruple the amount of power it generate from renewables. Last year, in the absence of these contracts, just one new onshore wind farm was completed in the UK. Further detail on the size and timing of the auction is needed, but it is expected that the auction would deliver new capacity at the kind of low prices seen last year in a similar auction for offshore wind, which secured contracts at below the current wholesale price of electricity. A new auction will allow the pipeline of shovel-ready onshore wind projects – those that have already gone through the planning system and secured consent – to compete for contracts to provide new renewable generation capacity. The popularity of onshore wind has grown in recent years and the latest Government polling shows 78% public support, with just 6% opposed.
