The Government has unveiled proposals to reform renewable energy schemes as part of its efforts to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030. Auctions for the so-called Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme see developers bid to secure a fixed price they can charge for each megawatt-hour (MWH) of renewable power they generate.
This system helps to protect them from market volatility, incentivising investment in new wind and solar farms. As the Government looks for ways to speed up the rollout of clean power projects to meet its 2030 target, it has launched a consultation on the flagship CfD scheme, including proposals to remove planning barriers.
Last year, the renewable auction round delivered a record-breaking 128 projects with a capacity to power around 11 million homes after Energy Secretary Ed Miliband increased support from £1 billion to £1.56 billion. The Government said the reforms aim to provide even greater certainty to investors, helping to secure the additional offshore wind that the country needs to build a power system that reduces bills, boosts energy security and cuts the UK’s climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Miliband said: “Last year, we celebrated delivering the most successful auction round in history – now we want to go even further. “British families and businesses are bearing the cost of the reliance on petrostates and dictators who set the price of gas on the global market.
“Our bold new reforms will give developers the certainty they need to build clean energy in the UK, supporting our mission to become a clean energy superpower and bring down bills for good.”. The consultation will explore a range of proposals, including relaxing the eligibility criteria on planning consent for fixed-bottom offshore wind, with the aim of speeding up new farms to come online.
Stakeholders will also be able to give feedback on changing how budgets for offshore wind are set and published, enabling funding to be invested more efficiently and increasing the CfD contract term beyond the current 15 years to make renewables more cost-effective.
The UK already has 30.7GW of offshore wind either installed or committed, with a further 7.2GW of capacity consented. But this comes against a target capacity range of 43-50GW needed for clean power by 2030. The Government said the reforms will enable the UK to go further and faster to meet its clean energy ambitions.
