Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy why Contracts for Difference (CfD), for what reasons strike prices have been higher for dedicated biomass technologies than for offshore wind during CfD allocation rounds two and three.

In CfD Allocation Round 2 dedicated biomass and offshore wind cleared at the same strike price of £74.75MWh for delivery year 2021/22.

The Administrative Strike Prices (ASPs) set out the maximum support that the Government is willing to offer developers for each technology in a given delivery year. In setting the ASPs, the government has drawn upon the latest generation cost data, while also considering market conditions, policy considerations and other technology specific factors in order to encourage new investment whilst ensuring value for money for consumers.

The methodology used to determine the draft ASPs for the third allocation round is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/contract-for-difference-cfd-third-allocation-round-methodology-used-to-set-administrative-strike-prices

CfDs are awarded in a series of competitive auctions, with the lowest price bids being successful as a means of driving cost reduction and project efficiencies.