The U.K. has contracted 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind in its latest renewables subsidy auction, enough to power 12 million homes, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announced.
Miliband said the results of allocation round seven (AR7) of the U.K.’s Contracts for Difference scheme involved the “largest amount of offshore wind procured in any auction ever in Britain or indeed Europe.”
Prior to the results being announced Wednesday morning, industry experts had estimated ministers would need to secure between 7.7 and 11.2 GW of offshore wind to stay on track for a government target of generating 95 percent of electricity from low-carbon sources in Britain by 2030.
Ministers also announced that the budget for offshore wind would be increased to £1.79 billion and the overall budget for the entire renewables auction to £1.97 billion — a huge increase on the initial budget of £900 million.
