Record Offshore Wind Auction - CfD Allocation Round 7 - enough to power over 12 million homes

15th January 2026

The UK government (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) announced the results of Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 7 (AR7) — the UK's main auction process to support new renewable electricity projects. This round focused on offshore wind and floating offshore wind.

• The auction delivered a record-breaking 8.4 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity awarded contracts — the largest single procurement in UK and European history for this technology. This capacity is expected to generate clean electricity enough to power over 12 million homes once built.

• The contracts use strike prices (guaranteed electricity prices) to give project developers long-term revenue certainty:
— About £91.20/MWh for fixed-bottom offshore wind in England and Wales
— About £89.49/MWh for projects in Scotland
— Around £216/MWh for floating offshore wind (reflecting higher costs for emerging technologies)

The government emphasised that this auction will unlock around £22 billion in private investment into the UK's renewables sector.

Major Winners & Projects

• RWE emerged as the dominant winner, securing CfDs for approximately 6.9 GW of capacity across multiple major offshore wind projects, including Norfolk Vanguard East & West, Dogger Bank South, and Awel y Môr.

• Smaller but significant awards include Scottish projects such as parts of the Berwick Bank wind farm (Phase B) and floating wind projects like Pentland Floating Offshore Wind, helping advance the UK's energy infrastructure across regions.

Policy Context & Implications

• The AR7 results mark a turnaround from earlier CfD auction rounds where offshore wind struggled to secure contracts — reflecting recalibrated strike price levels and increased government support to encourage investment.

• Government statements describe AR7 as critical to meeting the UK's "Clean Power 2030" goals — the target of generating nearly all electricity from low-carbon sources by the end of the decade.

• Although strike prices are higher than in some past auctions (due to inflation and supply-chain costs), officials argue the long-term contracts provide certainty for developers and investors, supporting industrial jobs and energy security.

How Contracts for Difference Work

Under the CfD scheme, renewable generators are guaranteed a fixed strike price for the electricity they produce over the contract term (generally ~15-20 years). If the market price is lower than the strike price, the government pays the difference; if higher, the generator pays back the excess. This mechanism stabilises revenues, encourages investment, and helps reduce risks for new low-carbon projects.

Adetailed list of all the Contracts for Difference (CfD) awards from the UK Government's Allocation Round 7 (AR7) announcement for wind energy, based on the latest published results (January 2026). This includes every awarded project, capacity size, owners, and technology type.

Norfolk Vanguard East and Norfolk Vanguard West together secured 3,090 megawatts of fixed-bottom offshore wind capacity. The projects are being developed by RWE in partnership with KKR and are located off the east coast of England, forming one of the largest new offshore wind developments in the UK.

Dogger Bank South East and Dogger Bank South West were awarded 3,000 megawatts of fixed-bottom offshore wind capacity. These projects, led by RWE in partnership with Masdar, are situated in the central North Sea and extend the Dogger Bank zone, already the world's largest offshore wind area.

Berwick Bank Phase B received a contract for 1,380 megawatts of fixed-bottom offshore wind capacity. The project is being developed by SSE Renewables off the east coast of Scotland and is among the largest single offshore wind farms ever proposed globally.

Awel y Môr was awarded 775 megawatts of fixed-bottom offshore wind capacity. The project is led by RWE and its partners and is located in the Irish Sea off the coast of North Wales, supporting renewable generation in Wales and northwest England.

The Pentland Floating Offshore Wind project secured 92.5 megawatts of capacity. Developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and partners, it is located in deep waters north of Scotland and represents a key step in commercialising floating wind technology.

The Erebus floating offshore wind project was awarded 100 megawatts of capacity. It is being developed by TotalEnergies in partnership with Simply Blue Energy and will be located off the coast of Wales, demonstrating the growing role of floating wind in UK waters.

Taken together, these projects account for approximately 8.4 gigawatts of new offshore wind capacity, making Allocation Round 7 the largest offshore wind Contracts for Difference auction in UK and European history.

What This Means

• These CfD awards are contractually backed revenue guarantees (strike prices) that provide long-term price certainty to developers — critical for financing and building new wind farms.
• The mixture of fixed-bottom and floating wind reflects the UK’s push into both established and emerging offshore wind technologies.
• With nearly 8.4 GW awarded, this round is seen as a major step toward the UK’s Clean Power 2030 goals and its ambition to quadruple offshore wind capacity by the end of the decade.