Project On Hold

On 21 January 2026, the consortium developing the 2 GW West of Orkney Windfarm — Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and RIDG — publicly confirmed that further investment in the project has been paused until UK transmission charging arrangements provide a viable route to market. Development Manager Stuart McAuley and General Manager Mike Hay told BBC News and the John O'Groat Journal (23 January 2026) that the project cannot compete in CfD allocation rounds while Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) charges in the north of Scotland — which tripled in September 2023 and add up to ~30% to project costs versus comparable sites in southern England — remain at current levels. The team has been reduced from a peak of around 80 staff to a "skeleton" headcount until the charging issue is resolved. The pause follows the AR7 offshore wind allocation results published one week earlier (14 January 2026), in which West of Orkney did not secure a Contract for Difference, and Ofgem's 23 October 2025 Final Decision on CUSC modification CMP444 (Introducing a cap and floor to wider generation TNUoS charges; https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-10/CMP444%20-%20Final%20Decision.pdf) which rejected NESO's proposal and committed to a 2029 timeline for full TNUoS reform under the REMA Reformed National Pricing workstream. The Scottish Government criticised the existing charging regime as "unfair" and called for accelerated reform. The project remains fully consented (offshore Section 36 + marine licences granted June–July 2025; onshore approved June 2024) and the developers state the pause is conditional on regulatory progress, not project cancellation.