Reform UK, a right-wing populist party, has warned renewable energy developers in the UK, urging them not to participate in the upcoming Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 7 (AR7). The party has pledged that, if it comes to power following the next general election, it will ‘strike down’ all contracts awarded under AR7.
The party’s Deputy Leader and a Member of Parliament (MP), Richard Tice, has sent out this ‘renewable notice’ to the top management of Octopus Energy, Centrica, RWE, SSE Renewables, Ørsted, Scottish Power, Equinor and Vattenfall.
A non-believer in the net-zero, calling it ‘net stupid zero’, Tice says the party is notifying the companies of the political, financial and regulatory risks for their shareholders should they offer any bids in AR7.
“The Clean Power 2030 targets are not deliverable without imposing intolerable costs on taxpayers, households, manufacturers and the broader economy. Put simply: there is no public mandate for the real-world consequences of this agenda: soaring energy bills, industrial decline, the imposition of intrusive infrastructure, and the erosion of national energy security,” writes Tice in his letter. “AR7, as a key part of this agenda, will add billions of pounds of subsidies and other costs to UK energy bills as well as threatening the stability of the grid.”
A probable Reform UK government, which is ‘leading in the national opinion polls’, will also reassess all Net Zero-related commitments, prioritizing cost, reliability, and security of supply over ‘spurious’ decarbonization targets.
Tice adds in his sharply worded letter, “As we have seen with President Donald Trump in the United States and the 2016 Brexit referendum, the era of unquestioned liberal progressive orthodoxy across the Western Hemisphere is over. Prospective investors in the UK's Net Zero economy would be wise to take note.”
The UK’s renewable energy industry is pushing back. Solar Energy UK Chief Executive Chris Hewett called it a ‘bizarrely unpatriotic’ threat.
“Even if contracts could be cancelled, which is legally questionable, to do so would threaten thousands of jobs, keep energy bills sky high and undermine Britain’s security by maintaining dependence on imported, expensive fossil fuels. This letter will be ignored by any serious investor,” stated Hewett.
RenewableUK’s Executive Director of Policy, Ana Musat, says wind and solar farms are generating new jobs and investments. Building new renewable energy projects is the best way to keep bills as low as possible.
“The UK should be proud to be a global leader in clean power. Renewables now generate more than half of the UK's electricity,” added Musat.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party-led government recently issued updates to the CfD scheme under which the solar PV project target commissioning window (TCW) is to be increased from 3 months to 12 months for all winning projects of over 5 MW capacity. AR7 auction round is due to be launched in August 2025 (see United Kingdom To Launch CfD Allocation Round In August 2025).
Under the initial 6 rounds of CfD auctions, the UK has awarded 39 GW of renewable energy capacity in 372 contracts. It plans to continue holding annual auction rounds, including AR8, which will be announced at a later date. The AR7 is likely to accelerate the country’s pace to achieve its 47 GW solar target by 2030 (see UK Unveils Solar Roadmap To Hit 47 GW Solar By 2030).
