This regime gives companies an assurance of a minimum electricity price for more than 15 years, irrespective of the prevailing market price.
The scheme will also replace the Renewables Obligation, which is due to expire in 2017.
The financial support being offered include for two offshore wind farms, which will deliver over 1.1GW of new capacity; 15 onshore wind projects; and 5 solar projects.
In total, more than 2GW of new capacity will be developed, which will annually cost £110m less than it would have without the regime.
The projects will reduce CO2 emissions by 4 million tons annually, which is equivalent to CO2 savings by taking out 2 million cars off the UK’s roads.
UK Energy & Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: "These projects could power 1.4 million homes, create thousands of green jobs and give a massive boost to home-grown energy while reducing our reliance on volatile foreign markets.
"The auction has driven down prices and secured the best possible deal for this new clean, green energy."
Scottish Power Renewables’ 714MW East Anglia One offshore wind farm project, Mainstream Renewable Power’s 450MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm and three RWE Innogy onshore wind projects are among the projects being awarded the subsidies, reported Reuters.
The UK government is planning to carry out the second round of auctions in the autumn of 2015.
This is part of the government’s efforts to meet the EU target of deriving 15% of all energy from renewable sources by 2020, reported Bloomberg.
Image: UK awards contracts for renewable projects under first round of CfD scheme. Photo: courtesy of dan/Freedigitalphoos.net.
