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| DECEMBER 2022 | UTILITY WEEK
Interview
Electricity
I
n normal times, low-carbon generators with Con-
tracts for Difference (CfDs) could expect to be regular
recipients of top-up payments collected from levies
on customers' electricity bills.
Although the balance of payments was already
forecast to become more even over time a•er many
projects won contracts at "subsidy-free" strike prices in
most recent CfD allocation rounds, the previous flow of
money has completely reversed over the past year. Since
gas prices began surging last autumn, with a knock-on
effect on power prices, generators have returned some-
where around half a billion pounds to consumers via the
Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC), which manages
the CfD auctions, and suppliers.
Patrick Bibby is the senior head of operations at the
LCCC, and he says that despite some minor teething
problems the CfD settlement process has worked "really
smoothly" in this new situation, adding: "It's been very
"We've got to a place where CfDs are
no longer deemed a green levy but a
benefit to consumers."
Patrick Bibby,
SENIOR HEAD OF OPERATIONS, LOW CARBON CONTRACTS COMPANY
