UK offshore wind auction delayed to next year - report

A UK auction for offshore wind subsidies that was intended to take place by the end of 2016 has been delayed until early 2017, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people close to the process.

The reason for the delay is not any policy change on renewable energy by the new government, but bureaucratic reshuffling -- the energy department was merged by new prime minister Theresa May into a newly-created Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) -- and the August summer break, a person familiar with the auction timetable told the newspaper.

In the 2016 Budget in March, it was announced that the UK government plans to auction up to GBP 730 million (USD 959m/EUR 871m) of contracts for difference (CfDs) to support up to 4 GW of offshore wind and other less established renewables in the current parliament. About GBP 290 million has been allocated for the first auction.

"The Government is making GBP 730m of financial support available for renewable electricity generation this Parliament, sending a clear signal that the UK is open for business," BEIS said this month, when announcing approval for the 1.8-GW Hornsea Two offshore wind project. "We expect 10 GW of offshore wind installed by the end of this decade and could see up to 10 GW of new offshore wind in the 2020s as costs come down," it added.

(GBP 1.0 = USD 1.313/EUR 1.194)

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