The Government has published its contract for difference budget notice and the draft allocation framework ( the rules for applying and qualifying and how auctions will be run) today.  The headline is the amount involved - £265m and the confirmation that onshore wind and solar will once again be able to compete in a pot 1 allocation.  There has also been a ringfencing of up to £24m for floating offshore wind.  The news has been welcomed by the energy sector.  For those looking at government support it is well worth reading the allocation framework and notice but a few observations;

- so out of £265m a total of £224m (84.5%) has been allocated to offshore wind.  Or put another way, onshore wind and solar get to compete with energy from waste, CHP, hydro, landfill and sewage Gas for £10m (3.7%) in a Pot 1  AND tidal stream projects, wave, advanced combustion, anaerobic digestion, dedicated biomass with CHP,  geothermal and remote island wind get to compete for £31m (plus anything left over from the £24m that floating wind does not use).  

- the administrative strike prices that have been set (i.e. the maximum a project of the relevant technology type can get set at 2012 prices)  is £46 per Megawatt hour for fixed offshore wind, £47 for solar and £53 for onshore wind.  This compares to an electricity market price in the £90's at the moment.   

- the delivery years for the projects bidding in for this support is 2025/26 or 2026/27 for everything other than Pot 1 technologies which is 2023/24 or 2024/25.    

- If you are a project that needs and is going to compete for, this support, one lesson from previous allocation rounds is make sure you have your eligibility criteria lined up since a silly mistake early on can disqualify you.