It isn’t just the Chinese stock market that’s going “no bid” this week, it’s also offshore wind power at the UK’s annual renewable energy auction.

For the first time since the UK’s annual renewable energy auction began almost 10 years ago, the system for awarding subsidies is seeing no developers bid for offshore wind power this year as a result of rising costs, according to a new report by Bloomberg.

In the past, offshore wind farms have been a success, with farms along the UK coastline benefitting from state financing. But supple bottlenecks and rising costs are now forcing companies to submit lower bids, pushing down the maximum price they can offer.

The results of the auction will be announced next month, but Bloomberg writes that “the funding on offer this year may be too little to attract any bidders”. A lack of bidders for offshore wind could, in turn, “pose a major setback” for the government’s climate targets. Faisal Wahid, a senior consultant at LCP Delta, a clean energy consultancy, told Bloomberg: “If we see a situation with no offshore wind clearing this year, that’s a very serious signal for the government to act and redesign the auction for next year. If the government doesn’t change it, that’s a signal of a shift in green policies.”

[I have a bad case of the snickers right now. But if it takes nobody buying it thanks to “too expensive/not enough handouts” for it to die, I’m perfectly happy with it slipping away in that fashion, too. Just go away. ~ Beege]