WindEurope warned on Monday that the UK government’s proposed £900 million budget for its next offshore wind auction could constrain industry growth and hinder the country’s broader energy goals.
The Allocation Round 7 (AR7) auction sets £900 million for bottom-fixed offshore wind and £180 million for floating projects, which analysts say is sufficient to fund only 5–6 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity. The UK currently has 12.5 GW of offshore wind and aims to reach 50 GW by 2030.
WindEurope said the limited budget would prevent most of the 20 GW of shovel-ready projects from progressing, allowing roughly a quarter to advance. The trade body estimated the shortfall could result in £53 billion in missed private investment and 45,000 jobs, noting that each GW of offshore wind contributes approximately £2–3 billion to the UK economy.
Giles Dickson, chief executive of WindEurope, said: “This budget risks severely restricting the growth of offshore wind in the UK. There are lots of good projects waiting to be built, and consumers and industry want the cheaper electricity that they’d bring. But with this initial budget proposal, only a quarter of the projects will get through. That would be a big missed opportunity for the UK. They’d miss out on millions in investment and thousands of jobs. It would undermine the UK’s leadership on offshore wind. And impact negatively on the whole of the UK and European wind supply chain.”
The government has set strike price caps of £113 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for bottom-fixed projects and £271/MWh for floating wind, reflecting the higher costs of emerging technologies.
WindEurope added that restricting auction volumes could weaken investor confidence and destabilise the European supply chain, which relies heavily on UK market activity.
The AR7 sealed bidding window is scheduled to run from Nov. 11 to 17, with results expected on Jan. 14.
