UK offshore wind projects totalling 5.5 GW achieve CfD milestone

A total of 5.5 GW of offshore wind projects that were awarded contracts for difference (CfD) in the UK's third allocation round in 2019 have passed their milestone requirement.

The announcement was made today by the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC), which is the CfD counterparty. To achieve the milestone, projects had to either incur actual spend of 10% of the expected development and construction costs, or evidence project commitments such as having financing for the projects and contracts for the material equipment in place.

The CfD third allocation round was open to less-established technologies such as offshore wind, geothermal power, remote island wind and marine power, among others. All six offshore wind projects that were successful in the auction have reached the milestone. These are:

The offshore wind farms are due to become operational in the mid-2020s and are expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 8 million homes.

LCCC said it assisted the third-round projects in managing uncertainties, including the pandemic and a judicial review, by applying force majeure provisions where appropriate. All projects were granted a six-month extension to their milestone delivery date because of the judicial review.

The four remote island wind projects facing grid connection delays have been granted extensions to the milestone delivery date. Together these projects represent about 275 MW of capacity.

The two advanced conversion technology projects, 27.5-MW Bulwell and 6.1-MW Small Heath, were unable to meet the milestone delivery date and their CfD contracts have been terminated, LCCC said.

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