Pipeline of ‘shovel-ready’ onshore wind and solar projects passes 6GW

More than 6GW of “shovel-ready” onshore wind and solar projects are now awaiting construction, according to analysis of the latest figures from the government’s renewable energy planning database.

There was 4.6GW onshore wind and 1.5GW of solar in the pipeline as of last month. The tally is up from 5.7GW a year previously, when 4GW of onshore wind and 1.7GW of solar was awaiting construction.

The figures were provided by Cornwall Insight whose wholesale manager, James Brabben, told Utility Week: “Effectively there is a large and growing pipeline of shovel-ready projects without a straight-forward route to market because many of them are solar and onshore wind without access to any new subsidy.

“A lot of them are waiting for better wholesale market conditions or a change in policy, or if they are proceeding with development perhaps trying to something a bit more innovative with a utility PPA (power purchase agreement) or corporate PPA.”

Cornwall Insight analyst Lucy Dalton said: “There is little surprise that so much of the total pipeline is awaiting construction – due to the underlying political uncertainty coupled with the lack of available support schemes, dampening investors’ confidence.

“While large numbers of projects will need to seek subsidy-free routes to market, only a handful have publicly confirmed route to market plans. Presently, utility power purchase agreements remain the leading option, but this may change in 2020 as new business models emerge to meet the needs of subsidy-free generators.”

The consultancy said there is currently a total of 24.7GW of renewable capacity either awaiting or under construction. That number is down from 28GW a year before.

According to RenewableUK, onshore wind installations fell for the second year running in 2019 to just 629MW. In 2017 installations had hit a record high of 2,683MW as developers rushed to secure subsidies before they were withdrawn.