New offshore wind projects in Great Britain need government support to reach completion, while Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) can provide routetomarket. Onshore wind and solar projects, on the other hand, can achieve a higher price with a PPA in certain locations, compared to securing a Contract for Difference (CfD), according to Veyt modelling.
The latter applies especially to onshore wind projects in England that have higher capture rates and can be built again after the de facto onshore wind ban was lifted.
Under the government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, adopted in December 2024, the UK aims for 43-50 GW of offshore wind, 27-29 GW of onshore wind, and 45-47 GW of solar capacity by the end of the decade.
Achieving the targets would require a doubling of onshore wind capacity and a three-fold increase of solar and offshore wind capacity within five years. This would require a big push for projects to be realised both via the CfD support scheme as well as via PPAs.
At the end 2024, Great Britain had 14.8 GW offshore wind, 14.2 GW of onshore wind and 16.6 GW of solar capacity installed. In addition, Northern Ireland had 1.4 GW of wind power installed and 0.2 GW of solar.
According to The Wind Power, there are currently 80 GW of offshore wind capacity in the pipeline across UK waters, of which 7.6 GW are under construction. The Crown Estate also recently announced efforts to accelerate the capacity additions for offshore wind, by amending existing seabed rights which could unlock further 4.7 GW of capacity.
Following the Action Plan release, energy regulator Ofgem has recently adopted the so called TMO4+ reform package, overhauling the grid connection permitting rules. The scheme is designed to fast-track viable wind, solar, and battery storage (BESS) projects.
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