The Government says that 12 new renewable-energy projects will be powering over 7 million homes at record low prices thanks to the latest round of its Contracts for Difference scheme.

The new projects will provide around 6GW of capacity — 2.4GW more than the last round.

The Government also says that for the first time renewables are expected to come on-line below market prices.

“The costs of offshore wind are now around 30% lower than the second auction held in 2017, with projects now being delivered for as low as £39.65/MWh.”

According to research by RenewableUK, the new projects could see 8,000 jobs created.

The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme is the Government’s primary method of supporting low-carbon electricity, encouraging investment in renewables by giving projects a stable income while protecting consumers from paying increased support costs when electricity prices are high.

Renewables projects across the UK have been awarded CfDs, with successful technology types including: offshore wind; advanced conversion technologies (converting into energy waste that would otherwise go to landfill); and remote-island wind (wind projects that can take advantage of strong winds).

The UK has the largest installed capacity of offshore wind of any country in the world, with around 8GW installed at the end of 2018.

This is expected to rise to 10GW by next year and to keep rising, as more projects start contributing power to the grid into the 2020s.

It has been estimated that the UK’s low-carbon economy could grow four-times faster than the rest of the economy by 2030 and could deliver between £60 billion and £170 billion in exports.