UK govt releases details for 2nd CfD auction

The second auction for Contracts for Difference (CfDs) support in the UK will open in April 2017 with projects to compete for GBP 290 million (USD 359m/EUR 326m) of annual support for the delivery years 2021/22 and 2022/23, the government said today.

The second CfD round will back only less established technologies -- offshore wind, advanced conversion technologies, anaerobic digestion, dedicated biomass with combined heat and power (CHP), wave, tidal stream and geothermal.

Releasing the long-awaited auction details, the government confirmed its commitment to spend GBP 730 million of annual support on renewable electricity projects over the current parliament. That figure, including GBP 290 million for an initial auction, was announced in the March 2016 Budget.

The statement by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) also noted that the maximum price for offshore wind is now 25% below the one set for the previous auction and said competition could bring it further down.

Draft CfD administrative strike prices (GBP per MWh, 2012 prices) are shown in the table below.

The government is seeking evidence to determine a geothermal strike price.

A cap of 150 MW has been set for all the fuelled technologies combined but it is yet to decide whether this cap will be applied on a MW or GBP basis.

The government also launched a consultation over whether onshore wind projects on remote islands should be treated differently from onshore wind projects on mainland Great Britain.

(GBP 1.0 = USD 1.239/EUR 1.123)

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