Demands for more subsidy expose the illusion of falling wind power costs

“The offshore wind developers seeking additional subsidies are treating taxpayers as fools. CfD contracts are inflation-indexed, so electricity customers will be paying higher prices for their electricity until 2040 and beyond as a consequence of recent inflation. The notion that there has been an unexpected increase in capital costs since bids were submitted last summer is ridiculous, as suppliers have been warning of severe cost pressures for at least 18 months.
The reality is that offshore operators have been submitting unsustainable CfD bids ever since 2017, hoping that something would turn up. Even a period of very high market prices is not enough, so now they want to be bailed out by tax breaks. The Chancellor should just say No.”
Dr John Constable, NZW’s director of energy, said:
“The belief in falling wind power costs is the central foundation of the government’s Net Zero enterprise, and it is demonstrably false. The absurdity of current Net Zero plans is now exposed for all to see.”
Notes for Editors: Articles and studies on unrealistic offshore wind bids for Contracts for Difference
- Gordon Hughes, Capell Aris, John Constable, Offshore Wind Strike Prices: Behind the Headlines (GWPF: London, 2017)
- Gordon Hughes, Who’s the Patsy? Offshore wind’s high-stakes poker game (GWPF: London, 2019)
- John Aldersey-Williams, Ian D. Broadbent, Peter A. Strachan, “Better estimates of LCOE from audited accounts– A new methodology with examples from United Kingdom offshore wind and CCGT”, Energy Policy, 128 (2019), pp 25-35.
- Gordon Hughes, Wind Power Economics: Rhetoric and Reality: Volume I: Wind Power Costs in the United Kingdom (Renewable Energy Foundation: 2020).
- Gordon Hughes, Wind Power Economics: Rhetoric and Reality: Volume II: Wind Power in Denmark (Renewable Energy Foundation: 2020).
- Andrew Montford, Offshore wind: Cost predictions and cost outcomes (GWPF: London, 2021)
- Kathryn Porter: Addressing the high real cost of renewable generation (Watt Logic 2022)