The UK has awarded 8.4 GW of capacity in its latest offshore wind auction, making it the biggest offshore wind auction in Europe to date, WindEurope has said.
The auction, also known as Allocation Round 7 (AR7), awarded 8.2 GW of bottom-fixed projects and almost 200 MW of floating offshore wind projects, with the total capacity capable of powering almost 10 million homes.
‘With these results offshore wind once again proved to be one of the best value options for European households and industry,’ WindEurope said in a statement.
‘One of the most competitive’
The AR7 auction was ‘one of the most competitive offshore auctions’ held in Europe to date, with 19 projects with a total potential capacity of 24 GW eligible to bid. This resulted in strike prices for fixed-bottom projects of £91.20/MWh in England and Wales, and £89.49/MWh in Scotland.
These prices are around 40% lower than the cost of building and operating new gas facilities, and 30% lower than building or operating new nuclear facilities. In addition, the power generated by the 8.4 GW of new offshore wind farms will save households and industry nearly £1.7 billion annually compared to gas, WindEurope noted.
AR7 marks a ‘turning point’ for the UK’s offshore wind sector, the group added, given the strong competition and large pipeline of ready-to-build projects.
The awarded projects include six bottom-fixed projects, Dogger Bank South, Norfolk Vanguard East and West, Awel y Mor, and Berwick Bank, and two floating wind projects, Pentland and Erebus.
European wind development
WindEurope called on European governments to ‘follow the UK’s example’ and adopt similar mechanisms to bolster offshore wind development.
‘Last year, the European wind industry proposed a New Offshore Wind Deal to speed up and de-risk the build-out of homegrown and competitive offshore wind energy‘, it noted, adding that the European wind sector has proposed an annual build-out of 15 GW between 2031 and 2040, with 10 GW coming from CfD auctions. Read more here.
