£285m government funding for low carbon energy open for applications

The biggest ever funding round of the government’s renewable energy auction scheme opens today with £285m a year funding for low-carbon technology.

Renewable energy projects across Great Britain can now bid for funding in the fourth round of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, aiming to secure 12GW of electricity capacity. The additional offshore wind capacity resulting from the funding alone could generate enough electricity to power around 8 million homes.

Compared to the previous round, this is open to an expanded number of renewable energy technologies, with offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, tidal and floating offshore wind projects, amongst others, all eligible to bid for funding in the scheme’s auction process.

The competitive nature of the CfD scheme has been successful in driving the deployment of renewable energy across Great Britain whilst rapidly reducing costs. The scheme’s design has led to the price per unit of offshore wind to fall by around 65 per cent between the first allocation round (AR) in 2015 and the third in 2019.

Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng MP, said: “Our biggest ever renewables auction opening today will solidify the UK’s role as a world-leader in renewable electricity, while backing new, future-proof industries across the country to create new jobs.

“By generating more renewable energy in the UK, we can ensure greater energy independence by moving away from volatile global fossil fuel prices, all while driving down the cost of new energy.”

A total budget of £285m a year has been allocated to the fourth round, with £200m available for offshore wind, £75m for emerging technologies, such as remote island wind, tidal stream and floating offshore wind, and £10m for established technologies, such as solar and onshore wind.

Within emerging technologies, £24m a year has been ringfenced for floating offshore wind projects and £20m initially set aside for tidal stream projects.

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