UK awards 9.6 GW of CfDs in sixth renewables auction

Hornsea One offshore wind park. Image by: Ørsted A/S.

The UK government’s sixth renewables auction has awarded contracts for difference (CfD) to 9,648.26 MW of capacity, the results published today show.

A record number of 131 clean energy projects secured contracts, including the Hornsea 3 and Hornsea 4 offshore wind projects off the Yorkshire coast and the Green Volt floating offshore wind project.

Prices came in well below the cap set for the auction, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said. It highlighted the return of offshore wind after the 2023 round delivered no offshore wind projects.

The results can be seen on the government’s website. Below is a breakdown by technology.

Technology Type	Total (MW)
Solar PV (>5 MW)	3,288.31
Onshore Wind (>5 MW)	990.37
Tidal Stream	28
Floating Offshore Wind	400
Offshore Wind	3,363.07
Offshore Wind Permitted Reduction	1,578.51
Total	9,648.26

Permitted reduction is capacity withdrawn from projects that previously secured CfDs. The permitted reduction process in the contract allows up to 25% of the original capacity to be withdrawn.

Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) won a CfD for a 1,080-MW portion of the 2,955-MW Hornsea 3 project and a 2,400-MW contract for Hornsea 4. The inflation-indexed strike prices are GBP 54.23 (USD 71.22/EUR 64.39) and GBP 58.87 per MWh, respectively.

The company said it expects to take a final investment decision on Hornsea 4 within the next 18 months, with commissioning targetted before the end of 2030.

Neil McDermott, CEO of Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC), said the results of Allocation Round 6 (AR6) increase LCCC’s total renewable electricity CfD portfolio to 39 GW and 370 projects.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.313/EUR 1.187)

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