No offshore wind has been successful in the latest Contracts for Difference round, which has awarded support to 3.7GW of other technologies.
The results for Allocation Round 5 show just 53MW of tidal stream and 12MW of geothermal has secured backing from Pot 2.
Both fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind have gone without CfDs, following warnings from both sectors the £44/MWh and £116/MWh strike price caps were too low amid 40% cost increases.
The failure to secure capacity, which compares to 7GW of offshore wind in last year’s AR4, will be seen as a major blow to the government’s 50GW by 2030 sector target.
Meanwhile, solar is the biggest winner in AR5 with projects totalling just over 1.9GW securing support.
The strike price as cleared for the technology is €47/MWh from Pot 1.
Also in Pot 1, onshore wind projects totalling almost 1.5GW have been awarded support.
The strike price is £52.29/MWh.
SSE Renewables bagged a 223MW CfD worth £52.29/MWh for its Viking wind farm on Shetland, the only remote islands project to come through the round.
ScottishPower chief executive Keith Anderson said AR4 “is a multi-billion pound lost opportunity to deliver low-cost energy for consumers and a wake-up call for government”.
“The CfD process is recognised globally as a lynchpin of the UK’s offshore success, but it also needs to flex to keep pace with the world around it. We all want the same thing – to get more secure, low-cost green offshore wind built in our waters. ScottishPower is in the business of building wind farms and our track record is second to none in terms of getting projects over the line when others haven’t been able to. But the economics simply did not stand up this time around,” he said.
“We need to get back on track and consider how we unlock the billions of investment in what is still one of the cheapest ways to generate power and meet the UK’s long-term offshore wind ambitions for the future.”
Last year’s Allocation Round awarded support to 11GW of renewables capacity, which includes 7GW of offshore wind.
Of the five offshore wind projects that secured £37.35 per megawatt-hour CfDs, two have reached final investment decisions.
Vattenfall has already shelved the successful 1.4GW Norfolk Boreas citing 40% cost increases.