The fourth round of contract for difference (CfD) plan is expected to allocate 12 GW of renewable energy capacity. The British government believes that mature solar and onshore wind energy technologies are entitled to up to 5 GW of capacity, but the limited budget of these two technologies may not be enough to reach this level.

The British Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) today launched the fourth round of contract for difference (CFD) plans to help deploy utility-scale renewable energy projects.
The British government has allocated 285 million pounds for a new round of auctions, and for the first time since 2015, solar energy and onshore wind energy have been included in competing energy sources. However, only 10 million pounds of it are dedicated to solar energy and land-based wind energy, both of which are defined as mature technologies by the government. Most of the funds will be earmarked for offshore wind power, tidal power and floating offshore wind power projects.
BEIS hopes to sign a renewable energy capacity of about 12 GW through this round of auctions, which is more than the total capacity of the previous three rounds of auctions.
BEIS said: “Since 2015, onshore wind and solar energy have participated in competitive distribution for the first time. The government hopes that these two technologies will make a huge contribution to production capacity and help us achieve the level of deployment needed to achieve climate change goals.” The ministry also added It is pointed out that the total capacity of solar and wind energy in this auction may not exceed 5 GW, and the purchase capacity limit of 3.5 GW has been set for these two technologies.