Britain on Tuesday awarded a record volume of solar capacity in its latest renewable power auction, underlining the government’s push to decarbonise the electricity system by the end of the decade.
The auction, the country’s seventh under the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, secured a combined 14.7 gigawatts (GW) of renewable capacity from onshore wind, solar and tidal projects.
Solar dominated the round, winning about 4.9 GW out of the 6.2 GW allocated to onshore wind, solar and tidal power, the government said.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the scale of the awards would help cut household and business energy bills while reducing Britain’s exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices.
The CfD system guarantees developers a minimum “strike price” for the electricity they produce, shielding projects from market swings and encouraging new investment.
Under the scheme, the government tops up revenues when wholesale power prices fall below the strike price, and generators pay back when prices rise above it.
Strike prices were set at £72.24 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for onshore wind and £65.23/MWh for solar, levels the government said were cheaper than building new gas-fired power plants.
A total of 157 solar projects secured contracts, including EDF’s Cressing Solar Farm and RWE’s Clachaig Glen development.
Together with offshore wind capacity awarded last month, the latest round strengthens Britain’s clean energy pipeline as it works toward its 2030 decarbonisation target.
The government said the projects backed in this auction alone would be capable of generating enough electricity to power around 16 million homes.