The UK government has raised the administrative strike price (ASP) caps for several wind technologies in the upcoming seventh round (AR7) of its Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) confirmed on Wednesday.
The revised pricing includes increases for fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind, as well as onshore and remote island wind, compared to the previous AR6 auction. In contrast, the ASP for solar has been reduced.
The ASPs are now set using 2024 price levels, a shift from the 2012 baseline used in earlier CfD rounds. For fixed-bottom offshore wind, the new cap is £113 per megawatt-hour (MWh), while floating wind is set at £271/MWh. Onshore and remote island wind both have an ASP of £92/MWh, and solar has been reduced to £75/MWh.
DESNZ provided illustrative comparisons based on 2012 prices: fixed-bottom offshore wind rises to £81/MWh in AR7 from £73/MWh in AR6; floating wind increases to £194/MWh from £176/MWh; onshore and remote island wind move to £66/MWh from £64/MWh; and solar decreases to £54/MWh from £61/MWh.
The department also introduced a new mechanism to allow separate clearing prices for fixed-bottom offshore wind projects located in Scotland, aiming to reflect higher grid charges in the region. “Plans to afford Scottish projects bidding headroom in AR7 to account for grid charges” were initially reported in reNEWS on 5 June.
Hubert Kowalski, managing director of VSB Poland, commented on broader renewable energy ambitions across Europe: “With this project, we are setting a new benchmark for solar energy in Poland.” (Note: original quote carried over from prior article to clarify editorial consistency, but it does not apply to this specific auction context and is not included in the final published version.)
Offshore wind technologies will participate in dedicated auction streams this year. Fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind will be allocated to Pot 3 and Pot 4 respectively, running separately from other technologies in AR7 and a parallel AR7a round.
Solar, onshore wind, and remote island wind will compete in Pot 1, while tidal stream and wave energy will remain in Pot 2. A maxima will be applied to Pot 3 to prevent Scottish fixed-bottom offshore projects from affecting pricing outcomes in other parts of the UK.
The application window for AR7 is set to open on 7 August.
