RWE tells UK to get green auctions 'fit for purpose' as latest giant wind farm approved
German group wins Awel y Môr order soon after developers shunned disastrous CfD round due to poor terms
German renewables giant RWE called on the UK to implement a green energy auction process that is “fit for purpose” as it won approval for a 500MW-plus offshore wind farm in Wales.
RWE yesterday (Wednesday) won a development consent order for its Awel y Môr project, which it said is the largest renewable energy investment in Wales this decade.
The project is planned for 10.5km off the coast near the northern town of Llandudno and is expected to come online before 2030. With up to 50 turbines at a maximum height of 332 metres, it will produce enough power for 500,000 homes.
The wind farm now just needs a marine licence.
RWE is developing the farm in a joint venture with fellow German renewables companies Stadtwerke München, which has a 30% stake, and the financing arm of Siemens, which has a 10% stake.
It will be based close to RWE’s existing 576MW Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm.
Danielle Lane, RWE’s director of development for the UK and Ireland, said Awel y Môr is “firmly at the heart of our plans for renewable energy generation.”
“However, to make this happen,” she called on the UK government to ensure a contract-for-difference (CfD) auction system that is “fit for purpose and capable of unlocking the fantastic clean energy and investment opportunities that Awel y Mor” and other projects have to offer.
The UK’s CfD auctions see developers bid for government-backed power deals for their projects. The pioneering auction design, which provides certainty for developers by setting the price they will receive for power generated in advance, has been credited with making the UK a world leader in offshore wind.
Despite these issues, Lane said that, “as the largest power generator in the UK, we have ambitions to invest up to £15bn in new clean energy projects and infrastructure by 2030, with north Wales set to continue in its key role.”
RWE has developed around a dozen offshore wind projects in the UK, and is currently building the 1.4GW Sofia offshore wind farm on Dogger Bank in the North Sea.
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