The government has also confirmed its commitment to spend £730 million annually on renewable electricity projects over this parliament, and is consulting on proposals to end unabated coal power generation by 2025.
Applications for the latest Contracts for Difference (CfD) open in April 2017 for less established technologies including offshore wind and anaerobic digestion (>5W). The auction is expected to enable a reduction in carbon emissions by 2.5 million tonnes per year from 2021/2022 and to attract sufficient interest from developers for a competition auction to be triggered.
Business and energy secretary Greg Clark said: “We’re sending a clear signal that Britain is one of the best places in the world to invest in clean, flexible energy as we continue to upgrade our energy infrastructure.
“This is a key part of our upcoming Industrial Strategy, which will provide companies with the further support they need to innovate as we build a diverse energy system fit for the 21st century that is reliable while keeping bills down for our families and businesses.”
Proposals for the next steps to phase out unabated coal-fired power stations within the next decade form part of government’s long-term plan to highlight to investors that the UK is open to new, cleaner energy capacity. The proposals were first announced in November 2015 when the government laid out its intention to take coal out of the energy mix.
The government’s plan to upgrade the UK’s energy infrastructure, lower carbon emissions and spur on the growth of large scale, low-carbon energy is also part of the global deal to tackle climate change agreed in Paris last year.
It is also looking to end uncertainty over whether onshore wind projects on remote islands should be treated differently from onshore wind projects on mainland Great Britain, and will launch a consultation to ask for views which either support or oppose this position.