The UK government is expected to make a breakthrough announcement on the future of onshore wind imminently.

Sources said they were expecting onshore wind and solar to be included in new Pot 1 Contracts for Difference auctions.

The news comes on the eve of a planned hearing on Banks Renewables’ Judicial Review claim against Boris Johnson’s UK government for omitting onshore wind from the CfD process.

The UK onshore wind developer alleged that energy department BEIS broke EU law by not formally notifying the European Commission when it excluded onshore wind from CfD auctions.

It is not known what will now happen to the case but it appears unlikely to proceed.

Some 5.5GW of offshore wind won support in third allocation round last year. The implications for the CfD3 process are currently unclear.

BEIS, which has previously said it will defend the claim, declined to comment.

Banks Renewables also declined to comment. Its managing director Richard Dunkley said last year the challenge was a “last resort”, which he hoped will be “resolved” quickly.

“We simply desire a level playing field, and believe consented onshore wind farms are legally entitled to participate in all CfD auction processes,” he said last year.

“The exclusion of the onshore sector is clearly contrary to the open, transparent and non-discriminatory way in which the CfD scheme was expected to work.”

The UK government has been under increasing pressure to re-instate support for onshore wind as one of the lowest cost forms of renewables energy generation to help it achieve its net zero targets.

The move will also be seen as a bold political move given many Tory MPs are deeply opposed to the industry.

The plans were outlined to green campaigners by policy advisers at No 10 on Monday morning and are expected to be announced by BEIS later on Monday, according the the Guardian newspaper.

BEIS Secretary Alok Sharma is expected to say that ending the UK’s contribution to the climate crisis “means making the most of every technology available, and that includes backing more onshore wind and solar projects”.

This will be done “in a way that works for everyone, listening to local communities and giving them an effective voice in decisions that affect them”, Sharma will add.

https://renews.biz/58894/uk-onshore-wind-set-for-cfd-breakthrough/


SAS Volunteer

We publish content from 3rd party sources for educational purposes. We operate as a not-for-profit and do not make any revenue from the website. If you have content published on this site that you feel infringes your copyright please contact: webmaster@scotlandagainstspin.org to have the appropriate credit provided or the offending article removed.

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Avatar placeholder

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *