The UK government has taken the wraps off the next Contracts for Difference auctions with budgets set at £290m across two delivery periods.
The draft document outlines support for offshore wind, a trio of biomass technologies, wave, tidal stream and geothermal.
The £290m round will open in April 2017 for projects to be delivered in either 2021-22 or 2022-23.
Remote islands wind has been left out of the mix in a move likely to spark anger north of the border. “A consultation on the treatment of non-mainland GB onshore wind projects has been launched,” said BEIS.
Administrative strike prices for delivery in 2021-22 are £105 for offshore wind, £310 for wave and £300 for tidal (all on a per-megawatt hour basis).
Biomass technologies will receive between £115 and £140 and a price for geothermal will be set following consultation.
A cumulative maxima of 150MW, equivalent to a budget maxima of £70m, will be applied to the “fuelled” biomass technologies. No minima will be applied, even to wave and tidal.
Strike prices for 2022-23 will be £100 for offshore, £300 for wave, £295 for tidal and between £115 and £135 for biomass.
Phased offshore wind will be permitted within two years of the original delivery date, said BEIS. All supports are based on 2011-12 prices.
BEIS said: “(Strike prices) have been set to enable the cheapest 19% of projects within each technology in the second allocation round. This will help to ensure good value for money for consumers.”
The full CfD budget remains £730m across the duration of the current parliament.
“We’re sending a clear signal that Britain is one of the best places in the world to invest in clean, flexible energy as we continue to upgrade our energy infrastructure,” said BEIS secretary Greg Clark.
The full document can be found here.
Image: BEIS
