The UK government has cleared the way for fixed-bottom offshore wind projects without planning permission to enter this year’s AR7 Contracts for Difference auction.
The rule change will allow projects to enter the running when the AR7 application window opens later this summer as long as 12 months have passed since the schemes have either had consent applications accepted by the Planning Inspectorate in England and Wales or public consultations have commenced on Section 36 consent in Scotland.
London has also decided to change the information used by energy secretary Ed Miliband to inform the final auction budget, according to today’s (15 July) government response to a consultation on proposed reforms run earlier this year.
Energy department DESNZ said a budget for offshore wind would be published before the window opens to make sealed bids. However, Miliband will be able to view bid information on projects that breach the budget cap and then potentially increase the amount of cash available to maximise capacity clearing the auction and “if there is a benefit to the consumer”.
Other reforms backed by the government include an increase in the length of CfD contracts from 15 to 20 years for multiple technologies including offshore and onshore wind and increasing the length of the commissioning window for solar PV from three to 12 months.
Miliband said: “We need to go further and faster to make Britain a clean energy superpower, end our reliance on volatile global gas prices and make working people better off with homegrown power we control.
“These reforms will give developers the certainty they need to build in Britain, helping deliver more clean power projects and supporting thousands of jobs – all part of the mission to bring bills down for good through our Plan for Change.”