UK plans 10 GW of offshore wind

The UK government has finally published its repeatedly delayed Clean Growth Strategy, which involves a deal that could create more than 10 GW of additional offshore wind capacity.

With the Clean Growth Strategy, £557 million (€740 million) would be made available for the next  contract for difference renewable auctions, with the next tender to be held in spring 2019.

The news comes on the back of the last Contract for Differences (CfD) auction results in September which saw dramatic price reductions in offshore wind averaging 47%.

As we reported in mid September, DONG Energy was awarded a contract to build the Hornsea Project Two offshore wind farm, at the lowest-ever price for offshore wind in the UK. At £57,50/MWh (US$77.86/MWh), the strike price for the Contract for Difference (CfD) is 50% lower than the previous round of CfD allocations just two years ago, demonstrating the rapid reduction in cost across the industry.

According to sources, Hugh McNeal, the chief executive of Renewable UK, commented: 

“Government is clear that clean growth is a priority for the UK, and that the low-carbon sector can help to increase the competitiveness and productivity of our economy in the decades ahead, creating high-value jobs as well as taking effective action on climate change.”

“However, what’s missing is clarity on how the lowest-cost technology, onshore wind, can deliver for UK consumers.”

We have recently reported on several offshore wind projects UK:

• 860 MW Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm in Lincolnshire
• 504 MW Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm in Suffolk
• 41.5 MW Blyth offshore wind project off the Northumberland coast
• 714 MW East Anglia ONE wind farm off the Suffolk Coast
• 400 MW Rampion offshore wind farm
• 1,386MW Hornsea offshore wind project TWO
• 573 MW Race Bank Wind Farm off North Norfolk
• 402 MW Dudgeon Wind Farm in Norfolk