Greater than 2GW of photo voltaic has received contracts within the UK’s newest renewables public sale clearing at a strike worth of £53.40/MWh (US$64.19/MWh).
The nation’s Division for Enterprise, Vitality and Industrial Technique (BEIS) confirmed at present the outcomes of the fourth allocation spherical (AR4) of the UK’s Contracts for Distinction scheme, revealing a complete of 66 photo voltaic tasks totalling 2.2GW had secured contracts.
The public sale’s outcomes confirmed the successful strike worth for photo voltaic to be £45.99/MWh (US$55.30/MWh), nevertheless the public sale’s costs are primarily based on pricing in 2012 which, when making an allowance for inflation, imply tasks will likely be paid £53.40/MWh – or £0.0534/kWh – for the ten-year period of the contract.
Of these contracts, 5 are to start producing energy throughout the 2023/24 monetary 12 months, with the remainder set to return on stream in 2024/25.
The photo voltaic tasks contracted capacities vary in capability from 6MW to 112MW. The 112MW contract awarded is for Cleve Hill, a venture with a deliberate capability of round 350MW that, when full, will develop into the nation’s largest photo voltaic farm.
Chris Hewett, chief govt at nationwide commerce physique Photo voltaic Vitality UK, stated the public sale outcomes cemented photo voltaic as a “main a part of the answer to Britain’s vitality disaster”.
“Photo voltaic and wind are actually undeniably the most cost effective, in addition to the cleanest, strategy to energy the nation,” he stated.
Developer JBM Photo voltaic was the largest winner, securing 320MW of contracts, whereas different notable winners embrace utility ScottishPower and Lightsource bp, which secured 288MW and 130MW respectively.
Finlay Colville, head of market analysis at PV Tech writer Photo voltaic Media, described the public sale outcomes as a “huge optimistic for the UK business”.
“The outcomes in all probability far exceed anybody’s expectations, and can supply plenty of builders and traders safety to go forward with construct over the subsequent few years. And the chance free proposition of the winners within the CfD public sale may even present a buffer for a few of the different tasks underneath growth that require extra work and an alternate technique of financing by way of PPAs,” he stated.
In complete and throughout all applied sciences, CfD AR4 will assist 11GW of renewables coming onstream within the UK, with offshore wind securing the majority – some 7GW – of capability at a worth of £37.35/MWh (£43.37/MWh together with inflation).
