New offshore wind farm projects awarded

Published:  04 September, 2024

A total of nine offshore wind farm contracts have been awarded by the government after last year’s auction failed to attract any bidders at all. This is in line with the new Labour government’s commitment to expanding offshore wind energy in the UK.

The contracts are part of a wider slate of green energy projects that also include tidal and solar power, and will provide enough electricity to fuel the equivalent of 11 million UK homes, the government said.

However, while the new offshore wind projects have been broadly welcomed, some experts questioned whether they would generate enough capacity to meet renewable energy targets set for 2030.

A total of 131 contracts have been awarded to firms for projects which will generate 9.6 gigawatts (GWs) of renewable energy.

The new offshore projects include what will be Europe’s largest and second-largest wind farms, Hornsea 3 and Hornsea 4, which will be built off the Yorkshire coast by Ørsted, a Danish energy giant that is majority-owned by the state.

The contracts are boost to the UK’s renewable energy sector, after no companies bid in the auction to build offshore wind farms last September.