The government has raised the budget for the renewables Contract for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 6 by £0.53 billion to a total of £1.56 billion.
Consultancy Cornwall Insight estimates that the increased budget could add at least 1.2GW of offshore wind capacity, bringing the total to 4.3GW.
This would be about 25% of the UK’s current offshore wind capacity.
These numbers assume maximum bid prices and sufficient participation in the auction. If competition leads to lower bids, even more capacity could be secured.
The previous CfD auction resulted in no offshore wind contracts, but secured 1.7GW of onshore wind and 1.9GW of solar PV.
Tim Dixon, Senior Consultant at Cornwall Insight said: “While the funding rise is encouraging, it does not resolve all the concerns of the renewables sector or the broader energy industry, nor is it a clear path to stabilising consumer energy bills.
“To ensure this extra funding truly boosts sustainable energy generation, we must also tackle the broader issues including a lack of grid connections, inadequate infrastructure, planning frameworks, and long term service designs.”
