The UK government has backed away from mandating specific community benefit provisions for remote wind projects on Scottish islands.
BEIS said in a consultation response that developers looking to secure a Contract for Difference under the new remote island wind segment “are already offering substantial community benefit packages”.
It said specifying the level and nature of benefits “could hamper innovation and make it less likely that the package offered reflects local priorities”.
Officials added decisions on benefit are best taken locally and within guidelines and good practice established by, among others, the Scottish government.
BEIS also appears to have moved away from any maxima for offshore wind that would have all but guaranteed contract wins for island projects.
Antony Skinner, renewables partner at law firm Ashurst, said: “There is a real risk that by not introducing a minima for remote island wind projects such projects may struggle to gain a CfD at a strike price that will make them viable. This is what happened to tidal stream projects in an earlier CfD round.”
In other areas, government said it does not intend to extend supply chain plans to smaller island winds projects. For larger developments, it promised to keep the initiative under review “and will consider whether the size threshold of 300MW remains appropriate for all technologies before future allocation rounds”.
BEIS also backed away from treating community projects differently to commercial efforts. “Introducing a separate sub-category of community projects, in a way that would not distort the competitive CfD allocation process, while representing value for money for electricity consumers, could be challenging.”
The government also set out a range of small adjustments covering advanced conversion technologies and combined heat and power in upcoming CfD rounds.
Changes to the nuts and bolts of CfD contracts are also planned, including adjustments for Brexit. Some areas are open for further consultation until 10 October.
For the full story on continued evolution of the CfD regime, see the next issue of subscriber-only newsletter reNEWS.
The latest CfD documents are available here.
Image: Shetland Islands Council
UK light touch on island CfDs
By EBS