£557mn for new renewable energy projects, British Government confirms

For the next clean electricity auctions, the British government has confirmed that up to £557 (US$740mn) will be set aside for less established renewable projects.

This is in preparation for the launch of the Clean Growth Strategy, which will be published this week. The strategy will build on the UK’s success of a growing economy – by two thirds – and reduction of emissions – by a third – since the 1990s.

The government plans for the Clean Growth Strategy to benefit the whole country with new jobs, businesses, and technologies that are not only good for consumers and the economy, but are also environmentally-friendly.

Richard Harrington, the UK’s Energy Minister, confirmed that up to £557mn will be made available for less established renewable electricity projects, in order to continue driving economic growth and clean up the energy system.

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“The government’s Clean Growth Strategy will set out how the whole of the UK can benefit from the global move to a low carbon economy,” stated Mr Harrington.

“We’ve shown beyond doubt that renewable energy projects are an effective way to cut our emissions, while creating thousands of good jobs and attracting billions of pounds worth of investment.”

In the Contracts for Difference auctions, developers will compete for up to £557mn. The first auction created over 3GW of new generation, enough to power 3.6mn homes, and the latest concluded with new offshore wind cost falling by 50%.

Low carbon generation provided 52% of the UK’s electricity over the summer, National Grid reported. The UK is also decarbonising at a faster rate than any other G20 nation.

The next Contracts for Difference auction is planned for spring 2019.