The UK Government has confirmed a new wave of onshore renewable energy projects under the Contracts for Difference scheme, following last month’s record-breaking offshore wind auction.
Results from Allocation Round 7 (AR7) show 4.9GW of solar and 1.3GW of onshore wind capacity secured across Britain, reinforcing the pace at which clean power is being rolled out across the country.
Solar projects were awarded contracts at a strike price of £65.23 per megawatt hour (in 2024 prices), below the £70/MWh achieved in Allocation Round 6 and representing the largest volume of solar capacity ever secured in a single CfD auction.
Onshore wind projects were secured at a strike price of £72/MWh, slightly above the AR6 average of £71/MWh but still below the £73/MWh seen in Allocation Round 5, reflecting continued cost stability in the sector.
Once built, the projects announced today will lift the UK’s total CfD-supported wind and solar capacity to 50.6GW, including schemes already operational or under construction. The UK currently has 16.3GW of installed onshore wind capacity and more than 21GW of solar capacity, based on figures up to September 2025.
In total, AR7 has secured 14.7GW of renewable energy projects across all technologies, marking another significant step towards decarbonising the power system and strengthening domestic energy supply.
Frankie Mayo, senior analyst at Ember, said the results underlined the momentum behind clean power deployment across Britain.
“This is a great clean power achievement,” Mayo said. “Wind and solar are unstoppable across Britain, with new projects announced today unlocking access to reliable, homegrown energy and cutting our reliance on volatile fossil fuels for decades to come.”
The latest CfD results come as ministers continue to position renewable energy as central to the UK’s long-term energy security and net zero strategy, with onshore wind and solar increasingly seen as among the fastest and most cost-effective technologies to deploy at scale.
