The UK’s sixth renewables auction has delivered a record number of clean energy projects powering the equivalent of 11 million homes.
The latest auction round delivered 133 new clean energy projects, a key milestone toward delivering clean power by 2030.
This makes it the biggest round ever, with significant numbers for onshore wind, solar and tidal energy.
The results are a marked improvement on the previous auction round in 2023, which saw zero offshore wind projects agreed upon.
Increasing the budget for clean energy
These successful results came after the government moved quickly last month to increase the renewables auction budget by 50% – a record funding uplift that was seven times bigger than the previous round’s pot.
As a result, offshore wind is back for business in UK waters, with nine contracts awarded, including securing both what will be Europe’s largest and second largest windfarm projects, Hornsea 3 and Hornsea 4, off the Yorkshire coast.
A new rollout of low-carbon electricity is a key step for UK energy independence and energy security, helping protect families and businesses from spiking global fossil fuel prices.
Projects have been agreed at well below the upper limit on the price set for the auction – meaning the government has bought a record amount of clean power at a much lower cost to consumers than the maximum price – providing value for money and cheap power.
Supporting green jobs and growing the economy
The funding awarded today will also help support new green jobs across the country, increase prosperity in industrial heartlands and rural communities, and unlock green economic growth from the Scottish Highlands to the Suffolk coast.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Today we have now achieved a record-setting round for enough renewable power for 11 million homes, essential to give energy security to families across the country.
“It is another significant step forward in our mission for clean power by 2030 – bringing Britain energy independence and lower bills for good.”
He added: “As we accelerate our plan for clean power by 2030, the government will work with the industry to build on this success and ensure we can go even further and faster to deliver the power we need.”
Expanding policies to deliver clean energy quickly
On the back of this successful auction, the Energy Secretary is working with the industry to accelerate ways that the Contracts for Difference system and other energy policies can be expanded so that more renewable energy, including offshore wind, can be connected to the grid quicker.
The 133 projects this year are the biggest auction to date, exceeding the 92 projects delivered in the last auction round.
These include:
- The largest offshore wind farm project in Europe – the Hornsea 3 project off the Yorkshire coast.
- The largest floating offshore wind project in the world to reach the market, Green Volt, which is double the size of Europe’s total installed floating offshore wind capacity.
- Six new tidal projects are being built on the UK’s world-leading position, with just under half of the world’s operational tidal stream capacity being situated in UK waters.
- A combined 115 solar and onshore wind projects, which is more than the total number of projects delivered in the last auction round.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks concluded: “Securing new wind turbines, solar panels and cutting-edge technologies such as tidal will boost growth, catalyse investment and support good jobs across Great Britain.
“We’ve done this while ensuring value for money for billpayers, delivering the biggest auction round to date at competitive prices, helping turbocharge our mission for energy independence and clean power by 2030.”
