United Kingdom – Application for the UK government’s flagship renewable energy support scheme, which provides £285 million a year in funding for new green energy projects, opens on Monday, December 13th.

The fourth round of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, which aims to secure 12GW of electricity capacity – more renewable capacity than the previous three rounds combined – is now open to renewable energy projects across the United Kingdom. A total of around 8 million homes could be supplied with electricity by the additional offshore wind capacity created solely as a result of the new funding.

There are more renewable energy technologies eligible for funding in this round, including offshore wind and onshore turbines as well as solar and tidal projects. This will ensure that we have a more secure and resilient energy system and support the UK’s transition to net zero through a greater range of energy sources.

A major benefit of the CfD program is that it encourages the use of renewable energy sources while simultaneously lowering their costs. Offshore wind prices have dropped by about 65 percent since 2015’s first allocation round (AR) and are expected to drop even further by 2019. This is due to the scheme’s design.

The fourth round has a total budget of £285 million per year, with £200 million allocated for offshore wind, £75 million for emerging technologies, such as remote island wind, tidal stream, and floating offshore wind, and £10 million for established technologies, such as solar and onshore wind.

New, cutting-edge technologies like floating offshore wind and tidal stream have been allocated £24 million each year by the government for their potential contribution to the UK’s decarbonisation goals….

This is the largest investment in tidal power in a generation, and it could lead to the creation of thousands of jobs across the United Kingdom as a result of the £20 million per year in funding.

To help us meet our climate change targets, the government has put onshore wind and solar into a competitive round for the first time since 2015. The government expects significant capacity from these technologies.

AR4 is expected to be a major step towards achieving the government’s increased ambition of 40GW of offshore wind by 2030, including 1GW from floating offshore wind, as set out in the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. This depends on the outcome of the competitive auction.

According to Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, clean energy will play a critical role in ending our nation’s contribution to climate change by 2050 if the latest round of the CfD program is implemented.