CfD contract secured for Viking Energy Wind Farm

Jul 8, 2022

Misc

Posted by Patrick Haddad

SSE Renewables has secured a low-carbon power contract for 220MW for its wholly-owned Viking Energy Wind Farm (Viking) project, currently being constructed in Shetland.

This comes as part of the UK’s fourth Contract for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round.

Viking’s success in securing a contract follows a competitive auction process in Allocation Round 4 (AR4) where it competed within Pot 2 of the allocation round set aside for ‘less established’ technologies including Remote Island Wind.

The 443MW Viking project, which SSE Renewables is currently building in the Shetland Islands, has secured a CfD for 220MW (50% of its total capacity) at a strike price of £46.39/MWh for the 2026/27 delivery year.

The successful project will receive its guaranteed strike price, set on 2012 prices but annually indexed for CPI inflation, for the contracted low carbon electricity it will generate for a 15-year period. Securing a CfD for Viking stabilises the revenue from the project whilst also delivering price security for billpayers.

Viking is progressing through construction with over 50 per cent of turbine foundation bases poured. When complete in 2024, Viking Energy Wind Farm will be the UK’s most productive onshore wind farm in terms of annual electricity output^, with the project also contributing to Shetland’s security of supply by underpinning the HVDC transmission link that will connect the islands to the mainland for the first time.

“We are delighted that Viking Energy Wind Farm has been successful in securing a 15-year contract in the UK’s fourth and highly competitive CfD allocation round. At SSE Renewables we’re taking action to deliver more of the sustainable and secure homegrown energy needed in the UK. Viking will be the most productive onshore wind farm in the UK when it enters operation from 2024, and will play a crucial role in decarbonising energy supply in the Shetland Islands as well as in Scotland.” says Stephen Wheeler, Managing Director of SSE Renewables.

Source and image: SSE