UK energy department BEIS has allocated a draft budget of £60m for the next Contracts for Difference renewables auction due to kick off in spring 2019.
BEIS also imposed a total capacity cap of 6GW for all so-called Pot 2 less established technologies for the delivery years 2023-24 and 2024-25.
The offshore wind CfD administrative strike prices were set at £56 per megawatt-hour for 2023-24 and £53/MWh for 2024-25.
Remote island onshore wind was set at £82/MWh for both delivery years.
BEIS said a final budget notice will be issued no later than 10 working days prior to the commencement of the allocation round planned to open in May 2019.
Industry sources expressed surprise by what was an unexpectedly low budget for the next allocation round.
Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit analyst Jonathan Marshall said: “We can expect this auction to be highly competitive, with only the most attractive projects bagging contracts.”
“However, limiting funds will likely dissuade some developers who may find that their projects will take longer to come to market than they originally envisaged,” he added.
Energy Minister Claire Perry meanwhile told Parliament earlier on Tuesday that BEIS is “in the final stages of concluding our offshore wind sector deal”, which is expected to back 30GW of offshore wind installed capacity by 2030.
The deal will also include “a series of substantial commitments from the operators in the sectors to increase the UK content that will be spent”, she added.