40MW of tidal stream secured in the UK’s latest renewable auction

The UK Government demonstrated international leadership in setting a £20m ringfence in Allocation Round 4 (AR4) of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme in November 2021. The results of that ringfence have been announced today with successful projects awarded contracts in Orkney, the Pentland Firth and Anglesey.

The four projects will power the equivalent of over 40,000 homes and marks an important first step in delivering the 11GW of potential afforded by the UK’s geography.

The successful projects are as follows:

• Orbital Marine will deliver 7.2MW across two projects in Orkney.

• MeyGen PLC will deliver 28MW in the Pentland Firth.

• Magallanes will deliver 5.5MW in Anglesey.  

The UK Government is a world-leader in the fight against climate change. A secure, fair, and cost-effective transition to net zero will require a diverse portfolio of energy generation. As we become more dependent on intermittent renewable energy resources the predictable nature of tidal stream will have a critical role in a decarbonised energy system.

Today’s announcement strongly positions the UK to benefit from an export market forecast to be worth £76bn by 2050, and I welcome the international interest that was sparked by the ringfence for tidal stream.“The Government now must seek to build on this fantastic first step, commit to ongoing ringfenced support in future renewable auctions, and set a 1GW target for tidal stream by 2035.

The four projects have been awarded a strike price of £178.54MWh. Catapult ORE forecasts that tidal stream will be cheaper than new nuclear at 1GW of deployment, and around £80MW at 2GW of deployment.

Today’s results represent an important first step in realising tidal stream’s potential in supporting a secure, cost-effective, and fair transition to net zero. Congratulations to Orbital, Magallanes and MeyGen for their successful bids.

The UK has tremendous tidal resource and could provide 11% of the UK’s electricity demand. It is critical that the UK Government maintains ringfenced support in the next renewable auction to unlock the over 11GW of tidal stream capacity afforded by the UK’s geography.

Tidal stream is forecast to be cheaper than new nuclear at the point of 1GW of deployment, supports the UK creating sustainable jobs and supply chains in coastal communities and beyond, whilst boosting energy security through an entirely predictable baseload renewable energy resource.”

The full results of AR4 are available online.