The UK government has confirmed the budget of GBP 205 million (around EUR 233 million) for this year’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. Most of this budget in CfD Round 5, set to open for applications on 30 March, will be available for established technologies which, for the first time, include offshore wind.

In the CfD Allocation Round 4 (AR4), held last year, the UK government awarded contracts to renewable energy projects totalling almost 11 GW in capacity. Offshore wind farms accounted for 7 GW of these.