'There's a risk that if we don't change something, things will start snapping'

The UK wind industry has become world famous for its rapid growth and ultra-competitive edge, but Will Sheard reckons the time has come for a rethink of the contract-for-difference (CfD) and Britain’s wider approach to spurring new offshore wind.

Sheard, director of analysis and due diligence at renewables consultancy K2 Management, has tracked UK offshore wind’s extraordinary cost-reduction journey over successive rounds of CfD auctions, a trajectory that continued – slightly to his surprise – in the last set of awards in 2022, as the attraction of 15-year government-backed power deals again drove down winning bids for 7GW of projects off Britain’s coast.