The UK government is planning to make this year’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction the “biggest and most successful” round ever held, SR Offshore 2025 has heard.
Chris Stark (pictured), head of mission control for clean power 2030 at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, told delegates in Glasgow that London will consult on proposals for Allocation Round 7 “in the next few weeks”.
The consultation will look at allowing projects to enter the auction without full planning permission and extending the term of CfDs, he said.
The process was expected last year by industry executives.
Stark said the government is “taking a little bit of extra time to get” the auction design “right”.
He added London is “focused on making this by far the most successful auction we’ve ever had”.
Stark said AR7 will “completely overturn” the disappointment of AR5 and build on the “reasonable success” of AR6.
“AR7 has to absolutely smash it,” he said.
AR7 and next year’s AR8 are the two main levers for securing the capacity required to hit the end-decade goals, he added.
He said 2025 is a “critical year” to put in place policy to deliver between 43GW and 50GW of offshore wind by the end of the decade.