The UK government has unveiled proposals that pave the way for more homegrown clean energy projects.
The consultation, open until 21 March 2025, seeks to relax eligibility criteria and extend contracts for difference (CfD) terms.
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These changes are designed to attract investment and ensure cost-effective renewable energy.
The UK, which is home to the three largest operational offshore wind farms globally, aims to secure additional capacity to meet its 2030 clean power goals.
The proposed reforms include relaxing planning consent criteria for fixed-bottom offshore wind projects and revising offshore wind budget allocations for more efficient funding.
The government plans to increase the CfD contract term beyond the existing 15 years to make renewable contracts more cost-effective.
The move will provide greater certainty to investors and deliver value for money to UK billpayers.
UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband stated: “Last year, we celebrated delivering the most successful auction round in history – now we want to go even further.
“British families and businesses are bearing the cost of the reliance on petrostates and dictators who set the price of gas on the global market.
“Our bold new reforms will give developers the certainty they need to build clean energy in the UK, supporting our mission to become a clean energy superpower and bring down bills for good.”
The UK targets a capacity range of between 43GW and 50GW of clean power by 2030. Around 30.7GW of offshore wind is already either installed or committed and an additional 7.2GW has been approved.
The consultation also covers repowering existing onshore wind sites and scaling up floating offshore wind through phased CfDs.
The government has also introduced aclean industry bonus to incentivise offshore wind developers to invest in cleaner supply chains, fostering job creation in industrial communities.
A response to the consultation is expected before the allocation round 7 (AR7).
