UK Officially Opens Contracts For Difference Allocation Round 6

• UK's CfD AR6 is now officially open, inviting bids for clean energy generation projects 
• The government has allocated over £1 billion for this round, out of which £120 million is available for solar PV 
• Applications received will be evaluated to shortlist bidders who will then submit sealed bids 

The UK Department for Energy Security & Net Zero has opened the allocation round 6 (AR6) under the country's flagship contracts for difference (CfD) scheme to incentivize investment in new low carbon generation technology. 

This tender round is open to a range of renewable energy technologies including offshore and onshore wind, solar, tidal stream, among others. 

In this round, applications submitted will be evaluated to qualify eligible bidders for the next round wherein they will be asked to submit sealed bids. 

With the largest budget for any CfD rounds so far, AR6 will allocate a total of £1.025 billion to the winning projects. While the biggest share of £800 million has been carved out for offshore wind, solar PV gets a maximum of £120 million. The lowest administrative strike price for this round has also been set for solar PV at £61/MWh (see UK Announces Largest Budget For Allocation Round 6). 

The details of the tender launched on March 27, 2024 are available on the government's Low Carbon Contracts Company Ltd. operated CfD allocation round website. Applications will be admitted till April 19, 2024. 

According to the UK government, the CfD scheme has been successful in driving substantial growth in the country's renewables sector. The latter now accounts for over 40% of the region's electricity, up from 7% in 2010. In the last 5 CfD rounds, the government has awarded around 30 GW of new renewable energy capacity. 

AI funding to help renewables 

To further promote renewable energy, recently the government launched a £1.73 million funding for artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that can help cut carbon emissions across key sectors by best use of renewables and increase efficiency. 

Of the 8 winning projects, the University of Nottingham was selected for its project on using AI to improve the accuracy of weather forecasting for solar energy using a combination of ground-based cameras and satellite images to analyze cloud cover and movement. 

The UK Minister for Affordability and Skills, Amanda Solloway said, "These projects will use our world-leading research and scientific expertise to enhance our renewables sector and boost our energy efficiency through the use of AI in the transport, land use, and electricity space." 

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Decarbonization Innovation Programme is part of the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation portfolio, it adds.