CfD Stakeholder Bulletin — 16 March 2023
Summary
DESNZ confirmed a £205 million budget for CfD Allocation Round 5, with applications opening 30 March to 24 April 2023. The department published the final allocation framework, contract documents, and consultation response alongside the budget notice. This maintains the established CfD mechanism with unchanged fundamental structure.
Why it matters
The budget maintains subsidy allocation through administrative rounds rather than continuous market pricing. As such, developers face periodic lottery windows rather than price signals that would allocate support efficiently across time.
Key facts
- •£205 million budget for AR5
- •Application window: 30 March to 24 April 2023
- •Final allocation framework and contracts published
Timeline
Areas affected
Related programmes
Memo
Contracts for Difference: Stakeholder Bulletin 16th March 2023 Allocation Round 5 Budget Confirmed The government has today confirmed that a budget of £205 million has been set for the fifth allocation round of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. Details of the budget are set out in the Budget Notice, alongside several other statutory notices required to launch the fifth allocation round (AR5), has been published by the government on 16th March 2023. Other documents published today include: • the final AR5 Allocation Framework, setting out the rules and eligibility requirements for the round. • a Government response to the recent consultation on further changes to the CfD contract. • the final contract documents for AR5 following the outcome of the consultation. The application window for Allocation Round 5 will be open from 30th March to 24th April 2023. For further information and to access all the publications, visit the AR5 microsite. General Data Protection Regulation This stakeholder bulletin is being circulated to people who have opted in to the Contract for Difference stakeholder contact list. We issue these stakeholder bulletins as a convenience to interested parties, however it is not in any way essential to be on this list to participate in major consultations or allocation rounds. Purpose & scope of this list: This list is managed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (and any successor departments) and will be used to inform interested parties of policy developments relevant to the Contract for Difference scheme for renewable energy projects (and any direct successor schemes). It is not used for any other purposes. To be removed from the circulation list: Please send a blank e-mail with the subject ‘opt out’ (if the receiving e-mail you use is different to the one you send the e-mail from, include that e-mail address in the subject of the e-mail) to BEISContractsForDifference@beis.gov.uk. If you have received this indirectly and want to be added to this list: Send a blank e-mail with the subject line ‘opt in’ to BEISContractsForDifference@beis.gov.uk. You can withdraw your consent to opt in at any time. We will normally keep your address on this list until you: a) withdraw your consent to opt in, b) the scheme closes without any successor, c) we receive reports your email address is no longer operational, or d) you do not respond to a periodic request from us to reconfirm your desire to opt in.