Reforms to the UK’s Contract for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 7 (AR7) will enable 20GW of offshore wind to be put up for auction with more lax rules.

The eligibility criteria for fixed-bottom offshore wind projects have been changed, allowing projects that do not yet have full planning consent to still apply under the condition that at least twelve months have passed since reaching a key planning milestone. The UK authorities believe that this would allow for a continuous pipeline of projects to enter the auction process.

The government will also remove the option of flexible bidding for fixed-bottom offshore wind following improvements in budget setting and auction design.

The government has committed to enabling multiple floating wind projects to compete in AR7, with dedicated parameters and budget ring-fencing where appropriate. Phasing will be extended to floating projects as well. This should allow large floating wind farms to be delivered in stages, reducing construction risk.

Contracts for both fixed-bottom and floating wind contracts were also extended from 15 to 20 years.

As a result, this will allow for 20 GW of offshore wind is now eligible to bid into this auction, which is more than the entire country’s offshore wind capacity of 16GW.

The changes are intended to help reach the goals of between 43 and 51GW of offshore wind capacity set in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.

Offshore Energies UK has already revealed that the country is not on track to meet this goal and that it needs to secure 8.4GW of new offshore wind capacity in the AR7 round if it wants to stay on course to hit its desired targets. That big of a number would make AR7 the biggest in history.

The prospective commencement date for Allocation Round 7 is August 7, with applications being received until August 27.