The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme allocates contracts through competitive auctions, ensuring that the lowest cost bids are successful.

For Allocation Round 8 (AR8), the Government has introduced refinements following consultation to strengthen competition and improve price discovery. To that end the Secretary of State will now have visibility of anonymised sealed bids across multiple technologies, creating competition across technologies, as well as within technology specific pots.

This change supports a continued focus on securing value for money for billpayers and maintaining robust competition. Final auction parameters will be confirmed in July, and the sealed bid window will open later this year.