Wednesday 20th September 2017

Wind Watch

Wind Watch is published every Monday and Friday.

In the meantime, have you checked out the latest posts on our blog? If not, you should. This is where we put the analysis that we can't fit in our newsletters and special reports, as well as articles from industry thought leaders.

If you have an idea for a piece about the business side of the wind industry that you would like us to feature, please get in touch.

Here is a taste of a new post from Dominic Szanto, director and head of offshore wind at JLL Energy & Infrastructure...

What trilemma? Offshore auction answers UK energy questions
By Dominc Szanto

The UK government has published the results of the second Contracts for Difference auction, for which only offshore wind, dedicated biomass and advanced conversion technologies were eligible to enter, and the results for offshore wind are astonishing, with 3 gigawatts - enough to power over 3million homes - securing contracts.

Two of the winning projects, Hornsea 2 and Moray Firth, will be delivered at a price of £57.50/MWh, which is far below even the most bullish of industry predictions. A project where the first phase completes earlier, Triton Knoll, will cost £74.75/ MWh. Most industry observers had been expecting pricing in the range £65-£70/MWh, a price that would only recently have been considered impossible to achieve.

Indeed, these prices are half of those in the previous CfD auction in 2015 and far below the ‘FID [financial investment decision]enabling' CfDs negotiated bilaterally...