海角视频

Plans for Wales鈥� first floating offshore wind farm have been set back after a 海角视频 Government scheme failed to offer enough funding to make it commercially viable. Blue Gem Wind, the Pembrokeshire-based developer behind Project Erebus, has confirmed it did not bid for a renewable energy contract in this year鈥檚 annual contracts for difference (CfD) auction, as rising costs meant the price offered by Westminster was not sufficient.

It comes as the scheme failed to attract a single bid to build new offshore wind farms in a major blow to the 海角视频 Government's net zero ambitions. Industry leaders said this was a 鈥渉uge wake-up call鈥� for Westminster, while the Welsh Government called it "a huge missed opportunity" to develop offshore renewables. There are now fears that no new offshore wind projects - which provide the cheapest form of power generation - could hit customer bills.

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Each year, the 海角视频 Government awards developers new contracts to supply renewable electricity to British households for 15 years. Developers are offered a guaranteed maximum price for the energy they generate, called a strike price. By guaranteeing the price that a company will be paid for its electricity, it gives firms certainty that they will not go bankrupt should electricity prices fall, as well as keep household bills lower than they would otherwise be if electricity prices soar.

This year, offshore wind producers were allowed to bid for a maximum of 拢44 per megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity. However, energy firms said that would not cover their outlays after the cost of building an offshore wind farm had soared by 40% for much of the industry. Experts had warned that the budget set for this year鈥檚 auction was too low to attract bidders in light of global inflationary pressures.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the lack of bids for new offshore and floating offshore wind projects was 鈥渋n line with similar results in countries including Germany and Spain鈥� and a result of a 鈥済lobal rise in inflation and the impact on supply chains which presented challenges for projects participating in this round鈥�.

A 海角视频 Government spokesperson added: 鈥淗owever, the industry remains a British success story, with the government committed to its ambition of securing 50GW of offshore wind capacity and 5GW of floating offshore wind by 2030.鈥� Project Erebus, the flagship Welsh 100MW wind farm, was due to be commissioned in 2026 as part of the first phase of the 4GW floating offshore wind farm in the Celtic Sea.

It will be located 40 kilometres off the coast of Pembrokeshire and feature seven next-generation 14-megawatt turbines on floating platforms, providing enough renewable energy to power 93,000 homes. The project was reliant on a successful auction contract to unlock the private investment needed to proceed with the development.

Blue Gem Wind had already secured a seabed lease and all the necessary environmental and statutory consents from the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) ahead of the auction. A spokesperson for Blue Gem Wind said: 鈥淲e would like to thank the Welsh Government and NRW for providing a timely consent decision for the 100MW Erebus project to be eligible for Allocation Round 5.

鈥淗owever, Blue Gem Wind can confirm a decision was made to not enter Allocation Round 5 which opened in March 2023. Test and demonstration projects such as Erebus are key stepping stones to maximising the future opportunity that floating wind in the Celtic Sea will bring, playing a crucial role in the demonstration of innovation, future cost reduction, and testing regional supply chain, ports, and infrastructure.鈥�

They added: 鈥淒ue to well-known global factors that have significantly increased supply chain costs in the last 18 months, combined with deploying floating technology in a region that has not previously supported offshore wind, has created a challenging environment to deliver the administrative strike price set by the 海角视频 Government for Allocation Round 5.鈥�

Renewable海角视频 Cymru said it was 鈥渄isappointed鈥� by the news and that it had repeatedly warned that the 海角视频鈥檚 current market framework was flawed. Renewable海角视频 Cymru鈥檚 Director Jess Hooper said: 鈥淎s Wales鈥� first floating offshore wind project, Erebus is entirely dependent on this form of revenue support to succeed, and the success of Erebus is critically important not only to Wales and the wider South West region, but also for the 海角视频 Government鈥檚 own floating offshore wind targets.

鈥淭his result will now delay investment decisions for developers, supply chain companies, ports and infrastructure, all with knock-on effects.

鈥淒espite the industry鈥檚 clear warnings, the 海角视频 Government has not taken inflationary costs and supply chain squeeze into account in this latest auction, focusing solely on competition through cost reduction. This is a huge wake-up call that if we want to deliver on our targets in this decade of delivery we need to see considerable reforms to the CfD auction design and industrial strategy to support its development and deployment.鈥�

There were successful bids for onshore wind, solar, tidal and geothermal, with six projects in Wales securing contracts including the Foel Trawsnant onshore wind farm near Maesteg.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: 鈥淲hilst we welcome the important progress in tidal stream in North Wales, today's results are a huge missed opportunity to develop offshore renewables across the 海角视频. By failing so comprehensively to respond to changing market conditions, the 海角视频 Government has called into question its grasp of the industrial opportunities marine and offshore wind represents.

鈥淲e and our partners in Wales have helped to lay some of the foundations for a thriving marine energy sector and being let down by the 海角视频 Government's failures today is deeply disappointing. The 海角视频 Government should ignore the advice of those urging them to row back on renewable energy and instead show they are serious about securing the long-term future of our energy supply.鈥�