Up to 12 GW of renewables sought in UK's round 4 CfD auction

The UK will award up to 12 GW of renewables capacity in the next round of its Contracts for Difference Round Four (CfD) auction programme, the government said on Monday.

This fourth round under the scheme is due to be opened late in 2021. Apart from offshore wind, it will enable onshore wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), tidal and floating offshore wind projects to compete for 15-year subsidy contracts. The participation for solar PV will be allowed for the first time since 2015.

The upcoming tender will split technologies into three different “pots.” Pot 1 will be eligible for established technologies such as onshore wind and solar PV, while Pot 2 will target less-established technologies, including floating offshore wind, advanced conversion technologies and tidal stream. Offshore wind will have its own Pot 3. Former coal stations converted to biomass generation plans will be excluded from the competition.

The targeted volume in the next round is over twice as large as the one in the previous round when 5.8 GW of projects were awarded. The capacity covered offshore wind, waste-to-energy and remote island wind plants that will go live by 2025.

So far, the CfD programme has provided support to 49 renewable energy projects with a combined capacity of around 15.5 GW, the government noted.

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