‘Green Industrial Revolution’ powers on with spike in clean energy planning

The UK Government’s ‘Green Industrial Revolution’ powers on in the wake of Boris Johnson’s 10-Point-Plan announcement with confirmation that the fourth round of the ‘Contracts for Difference’ (CfD) scheme is planned for late 2021. As part of targets to double the capacity of clean energy from the previous auction round in 2019, and in recognition of ever-increasing interest in renewables, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will expand the number of technologies supported by CfD.  Inevitably this has seen a spike in clean energy planning applications.

The latest round of contract bidding will again include ‘Pot 1’ for the established technologies of solar and onshore wind projects but now for the first time, floating offshore wind farms will be eligible to compete for ‘Pot 2’ funding, alongside other less established programmes such as advanced conversion technologies and tidal stream projects. ‘Pot 3’ will be reserved for offshore wind with fixed base foundations. It’s a competitive process but all of this is good news for developers who can effectively become partners with a government owned entity (Low Carbon Contracts Company) for their clean energy planning, that guarantees future revenue streams. It’s good news too therefore for attracting more private investment in clean energy developments to the sector, and the contract auction format creates good news in turn for consumer pricing. 

With the expansion of a scheme which it clearly regards as a success, the government has signalled further intent to meet the UK’s 2050 net-zero emissions target. The Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng continues to sound bullish about the impact of the scheme on the country’s renewable energy objectives.

“The UK is a world leader in clean energy, with over a third of our electricity now coming from renewables. That huge achievement is thanks to the government’s ‘Contracts for Difference’ scheme”. 

In addition, the Prime Minister had already committed to quadrupling the capacity of offshore wind deployments by 2030 comparing the prospect to turning the UK into, “the Saudi Arabia of wind”.

Research projections consistently suggest that the UK must continue to break records in order to hit the net-zero target but indications would seem to be tracking favourably. Renewable energy was almost up to half of the UK’s electricity generation for the first quarter of 2020, hitting all-time highs alongside new record figures for installations. The government will be hoping the next expanded round of awards from the ‘Contracts for Difference’ scheme will help maintain the trend.

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