Boralex is pleased to announce that a Contract for Difference (CfD) has been secured for its Limekiln Wind Farm in Caithness. The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has awarded Boralex’s 108MW wind energy project near Thurso, in the north of Scotland, a 15-year CfD at a level of £52.29/MWh in 2012 prices (equivalent to £72.35/MWh in July 2023 prices).
Country Manager Esbjörn Wilmar said: “We are very pleased to have secured a strong CfD for Limekiln. This strike price provides us with the certainty of a stable income and helps to secure project finance. The enabling works have already been completed and the turbine supply agreement with Vestas was signed last year. Having the CfD now in place, with the construction of the onsite substation and grid connection underway, the project is making good progress.”
Nicolas Wolff, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Europe, commented: “To keep costs down, renewable energy companies need a stable policy environment to foster confidence, to reduce the cost of investment and to ensure an affordable, clean and secure energy supply. The CfD that has been announced today meets these objectives and we look forward to bringing the project to fruition.”
Contracts for Difference were introduced in the UK in 2014 as a market support mechanism for low-carbon energy projects. The scheme is designed to encourage the development of large-scale renewable energy infrastructure at the lowest cost to the consumer, whilst levelling out market volatility.
Limekiln Wind Farm consists of 24 Vestas V136-4.5MW wind turbines measuring 150m to the tip of the blade. It is expected that the project will be fully operational by 2025.
Limekiln Wind Farm is Boralex’s flagship project in the United Kingdom and the Company’s first step to reach its ambition to grow the portfolio of ready-to-build and operational renewable energy assets in the UK to 1GW by 2030.