The UK has successfully secured a record 8.4GW of offshore wind in Europe’s biggest auction to date.
Britain has taken a monumental step towards ending the country’s reliance on volatile fossil fuels and lowering bills for good through this record-breaking offshore wind result.
The results deliver the biggest single procurement of offshore wind energy in British and European history, signifying a major vote of confidence in the UK’s new era of energy sovereignty and abundance.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband stated: “With these results, Britain is taking back control of our energy sovereignty. Clean, homegrown power is the right choice for this country to bring down bills for good, and this auction will create thousands of jobs throughout Britain.”
Powering 12 million homes with clean energy
This auction round, known as Contracts for Difference AR7, will generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 12 million homes.
The groundbreaking result puts Britain firmly on track to achieve its clean power mission by 2030.
These results show offshore wind is cheaper to build and operate than new gas. In new figures published today using the LCOE industry metric, the cost of building and operating a new gas-fired power station is £147 per megawatt hour.
In contrast, the results for fixed offshore wind in today’s auction were £90.91 per megawatt hour on average – 40% cheaper than the cost of building and operating new gas.
Supporting new jobs and regional growth in offshore wind
This auction will unlock around £22bn in private investment, supporting around 7,000 jobs, bringing growth and good jobs to all regions of the country – and particularly to the country’s industrial heartlands.
Projects have won in every part of the UK, including fixed offshore wind in:
- Dogger Bank South off the coast of Yorkshire and Norfolk Vanguard off East Anglia: Two of the largest offshore wind farms in the world, supporting thousands of jobs
- Berwick Bank in the North Sea: The first new Scottish project since 2022 and the largest planned offshore wind project in the world
- Awel Y Môr: The first Welsh project to win a contract in more than a decade
World-leading in emerging technologies
These results also represent major progress in our efforts to lead the world in emerging technologies, such as floating offshore wind.
The auction round has secured major infrastructure projects that will drive growth and prosperity in local communities for decades to come.
As Britain races to meet rising electricity demand, expected to more than double by 2050, and cut energy bills, these results and new analysis published today show that offshore wind, alongside solar and onshore wind, remain cheaper to build and operate than gas generation.
Head of Mission Control Chris Stark concluded: “Amid global headwinds and pressures on the offshore wind sector in recent years, we’ve secured a record amount of capacity at a competitive price for consumers.
“We need more offshore wind to meet the increasing demand for electricity in the years ahead. This result propels us towards a future of clean, secure energy abundance and reduced reliance on foreign imports.”
