The head of one of Europe’s largest power providers has said the price which British officials offer for electricity which was produced by wind farms will need to be increased by as much as 70%.

Tom Glover, the Country Chair of RWE AG, the German energy company which is Europe’s third largest producer of renewable energy, said that unless the price of renewable wind-generated electricity is hiked, it will no longer be economically feasible to construct new wind generation parks.

Glover says Britain should be paying between £65 ($79) and £75 per megawatt hour (MwH) for wind-power generated electricity compared to the £44 which was produced by the latest auction run by the government.

He said, “We need to see a materially higher price. Every project is different but £65 to £75 feels about the right range.”

He made the statement following a September wind allocation round in which there was no offer to build new farms from developers.

The government auctions were run under terms which committed operators to sign up to a “contracts for difference” program that would offer a minimum “strike price” for their power output.

Power providers are obligated to pay the difference between the strike price and the market price if the market price falls below the strike price. If market prices surge above the strike price, then the generators pay the difference between them.

It is expected that within weeks, a new draft plan for the next allocation round, which is currently under development by the government, will be released. If the strike price is increased, consumer electricity bills could soar.

Glover said that switching to alternatives like natural gas would not be feasible, as it would prove even more expensive than wind energy. He noted that unless the next bidding round offers a strike price which is more attractive to investors, the UK might end up failing to make its target of building 50 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030.