Latest CfD auction round will fail to maximise investment in wind, solar and tidal

Following announcements made today (March 16) by the UK Government, there is growing concern from industry that the latest Contracts for Difference auction round will fail to maximise investment in wind, solar and tidal energy, meaning consumers will miss out on the cheap clean power produced by renewables.

Andrew MacNish Porter, Policy Manager – Economics and Markets at Scottish Renewables, said: 

“By failing to take account of the increased cost pressures and economic challenges facing developers the budgets for Allocation Round 5, announced today (March 16), fall significantly short of what will be required to maximise the amount of cheap, clean renewable energy delivered by this year’s round of the Contracts for Difference mechanism.

"This means that consumers will face higher bills for longer, and that developers’ ability to invest in local supply chains will be undermined. Whilst the ringfenced budget for tidal stream is welcome we are concerned that the lack of capacity budgets - as used in previous allocation rounds - means that some technologies will be de facto excluded from the auction.

"We are therefore urging the Government to revise the the budget for this auction and to take action to ensure that a diverse auction outcome is achieved.”