The UK renewable industry received positive signals following today’s publication of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation round (AR) 6 results.  

Today’s announcement saw a total of 131 successful renewable energy projects under AR6 (the largest number to date), with a combined total capacity of almost 9.6GW.  The largest capacity was offered to offshore wind projects, at strike prices of between £54.23/MWh and £58.87/MWh.  

The below table gives an overview of the distribution of technologies and capacity under AR6:

Today’s announcement is welcome support for the offshore wind sector industry, having seen no successful bids in the previous AR5 in September 2023 – a process which was dubbed as ‘disastrous’ for sector.  This morning’s announcement signals a shift in the government’s recognition that greater support is needed for the sector, against a backdrop of rising interest rates, inflation and supply chain constraints which have squeezed margins across the industry.  It is also demonstrates that investor confidence returning.

In addition to the fixed bottom offshore wind sector, one of the significant projects offered a CfD under AR6 is the Green Volt floating offshore wind (FLOW) project, which at 400MW will, once operational, become the world’s largest FLOW project.

It was also positive to see meaningful projects awarded CfDs in the onshore wind and solar sectors. 

For an overview of the offshore wind and FLOW sectors in the UK, see our resources: