Orsted and RWE have won Contracts for Difference (CfD) for renewable energy projects in the latest Allocation Round 6 (AR6) in the UK.
There are question marks about demand and the success of the round. The full list of contracts at 3.4 GW show that today’s round procured around 35 percent of the total eligible pipeline of new offshore wind projects. The UK Government aims to quadruple offshore wind to 60 GW by 2030.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: “Securing wind turbines, solar panels and technologies such as tidal will boost growth, catalyse investment and support good jobs across Britain.”
RWE
RWE has won CfD for five of its renewable energy projects, following bids for two onshore and three solar PV projects. The inflation-indexed strike price for RWE’s onshore projects was £50.9/MWh and for solar £50.07/MWh (based on 2012 prices).
RWE projects together account for 218 megawatts (MW) of new UK renewable electricity generation capacity.
RWE intends to invest up to €8 billion from 2024 to 2030 in new UK clean energy infrastructure. This year alone, RWE made investment for the construction of its 1.4 GW Sofia Offshore Wind farm, three onshore wind farms in Scotland and seven solar PV projects in England.
Tom Glover, RWE UK Country Chair, said: “In addition to 32 onshore wind projects in operation, we’re progressing with the construction of seven new solar and three onshore wind projects and look forward to enhancing our portfolio even further with the contracts announced today.”
Orsted
Orsted has won contracts for a 1,080 MW share of the Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind Farm, as well as a 2,400 MW CfD for Hornsea 4. The CfDs were awarded at inflation-indexed strike prices of GBP 54.23 per MWh for the share of Hornsea 3 and GBP 58.87 per MWh for Hornsea 4. Both contracts are in 2012 prices.
Rasmus Errboe, Deputy CEO at Orsted, said: “These projects will supply renewable power at large scale to UK consumers and businesses and help the UK government achieve its target of quadrupling offshore wind capacity to 60 GW by 2030.”
Hornsea 3 will be the world’s single largest offshore wind farm with a capacity of 2,955 MW. Orsted expects to take FID on Hornsea 4 within the next 18 months and is currently targeting commissioning of the project before the end of 2030.
Orsted operates 12 offshore wind farms in the UK. Hornsea 3 and Hornsea 4 will be Orsted’s third and fourth gigawatt-scale projects in the Hornsea zone, following Hornsea 1 (1.2 GW) and Hornsea 2 (1.3 GW), which are already being operated out of Orsted’s operations and maintenance hub in Grimsby.
When Hornsea 3 comes online, Orsted’s Hornsea zone will have a total capacity in excess of 5 GW, making it the world’s largest offshore wind zone covering the power consumption of approx. 5 million UK homes.
Baburajan Kizhakedath