LONDON, March 3, 2026, 19:49 GMT
- Keith Anderson, chief executive of ScottishPower, cautioned that the UK’s offshore wind auction setup is favoring “riskier” bids instead of backing projects that already have consent.
- RWE-backed Dogger Bank South landed a spot among the AR7 winners, while ScottishPower’s East Anglia ONE North failed to make the cut.
- A Guardian report described how one family spent months trying to redirect legacy solar feed-in tariff payments following a death in the household.
Keith Anderson, chief executive at ScottishPower, took aim at the UK’s newest offshore wind subsidy round, saying tweaks to the rules are pushing developers to enter bids before securing planning consent—a move he claims boosts the risk of delays and potential non-delivery. 1
This dispute carries weight: Britain’s 2030 clean-power target rests on offshore wind, and officials want to keep costs down for consumers. The tool in play is the Contracts for Difference scheme—a government-supported contract locking in a “strike price” for electricity. If market prices dip below that level, the scheme kicks in with a top-up; if prices climb higher, operators pay back the difference. 2
According to the government’s published results, Allocation Round 7 (AR7) handed out contracts to several offshore wind projects—among them, RWE’s Dogger Bank South East and Dogger Bank South West, as well as Norfolk Vanguard East and West. ScottishPower’s East Anglia ONE North, however, didn’t make the list of successful applicants. 3
East Anglia ONE North, part of the East Anglia Hub, landed government consent in March 2022 together with East Anglia TWO, according to ScottishPower Renewables. The company pegs the Suffolk offshore project at 800 megawatts. 4
Anderson insists ScottishPower’s gripe isn’t about simply losing; he takes aim at how the auction works. He calls his project “shovel-ready,” and argues that awarding contracts before consents and supply chains are nailed down “runs the risk that the projects won’t get delivered.” He cites Danish competitor Ørsted as an example, recalling how it once bid “on the speculative basis” for a Hornsea project, only to later withdraw. 5
When AR7 landed in January, ministers painted it as a milestone for offshore wind, touting a record-setting round and 8.4 gigawatts booked. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband claimed the outcome proved Britain was “taking back control of our energy sovereignty.” Markus Krebber, head of RWE, noted the company locked in long-term offtake contracts across five projects under AR7. 6
ScottishPower is now under renewed scrutiny over its retail activities, as a dispute surfaces. Ofgem notes that the UK’s Feed-in Tariffs (FiT) programme, intended to support the uptake of renewables by compensating small generators for the electricity they produce and export, stopped accepting new applicants in 2019. But payments to already-accredited installations continue through participating suppliers. 7
The Guardian on Monday highlighted a family’s ordeal with ScottishPower, after the company kept contacting a deceased customer and dragged its feet over moving FiT payments from the late father’s account to his widow. The solar panels had been bought together back in 2011. According to the paper, ScottishPower covered the arrears and agreed to pay £300 in compensation. “We’re deeply sorry for the experience the family has had with us,” a spokesperson told the Guardian. 8
The St Helens Star, in its own coverage, noted that certain St Helens residents got a message from Scottish Power regarding an upcoming planned outage. https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/25902872.st-helens---scottish-power-message-planned-outage-set/
Network operators often schedule outages for regular maintenance or upgrades. SP Energy Networks, which covers regions in Scotland along with Merseyside, Cheshire, and north Wales, says customers should expect at least five days’ warning if their supply is going to be interrupted. 9
Time looms as the tougher challenge for the wind pipeline. Even with contracts in place, projects still face hurdles: planning approvals, turbine and vessel bookings, and grid connection agreements all remain. Any delay risks leaving Britain without the capacity it’s counting on by decade’s end.
ScottishPower finds itself under pressure on two fronts right now. On one side, the dispute over auction rules; on the other, fallout from customer service issues. The company is working to get new wind farms off the ground even as it grapples with ironing out simple household-facing processes.
