The “overarching outcome” of the upcoming allocation round 8 (AR8) of the UK’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme will be cost control for consumers. Angus Widdowson, head of generation at SmartestEnergy, spoke to Solar Power Portal about how updates to the CfD framework for AR8 will affect delivery. “The budget that’s allocated is going to be really important now, but other distortions have been removed,” he says. CfD scheme resilienceFor the most part, there is currently good alignment between DESNZ, NESO and Ofgem with the wider renewables industry. “That’s where the mooted Wholesale CfD (WCfD) scheme has a really important role to play, and details of that are starting to emerge.”