LONDON: The UK Government has announced £315 million ($622m) for 27 renewable projects, mostly wind, totalling 2.1GW in its inaugural contracts-for-difference auction, Carbon Brief reports.
According to the website, ‘strike prices’ for the 15-year contracts were well below expectations, with 15 onshore wind farms (749MW), 2 offshore farms (1.16GW), 5 solar parks (72MW) and 5 waste-to-energy projects awarded. Wholesale power prices in the UK are $A81.
Onshore wind, solar and energy-to-waste averaged $A162MWh, with two solar projects at just $A99MWh and the other three at $A156, while offshore wind and gasification projects – which received 812% of funding, in order to boost competitiveness – averaged $A231MWh, Carbon Brief said.
The government was expecting to pay $A237 for solar, with one director of one of the two $A99 solar bidders acknowledging it was a mistake to bid so low, with think tank Policy Exchange telling the website it was “inconceivable” the two projects would meet that goal.
