Yeah, the UK is probably one of the best places for offshore wind, and they're building gigantic fields.

And compared to what Hinkley Point C is gonna cost... solar and wind is basically for free

With the big * of solar being fairly predictable, and wind not. You can be bereft of wind for weeks.

In a given spot yes, the UK continental shelf is pretty big though.

It is, but you can look at https://grid.iamkate.com/ and see wind go up and down depending on the weather.

Unless there is a shortage of wind on a given day/week/month. Then the cheapness is no longer surprising ― you are literally paying only what it costs to provide the electricity now, not at any point in the future.

Maybe the guarantee of 24/7 supply is actually worth something?

The outcome of Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 6 suggests wind isn't cheap compared to wholesale electricity prices in the UK, which are already one of the highest in the world. The maths is quite simple.

And that doesn't include curtailment costs, which are not insignificant.

The average strike price for offshore wind in AR6 came in at £59.90/MWh. That's pretty cheap, and much cheaper than any new nuclear. Hinkley Point C's strike price is £92.50/MWh. (note: strike prices are always quoted based on 2012 currency, and get adjusted for inflation)

You can't really compare strike prices to spot prices on the wholesale market precisely because there's so much supply under CfD contracts, which distorts the wholesale market. When supply is abundant, the wholesale price plummets and even goes negative, yet suppliers still want to generate because they get the CfD price. When supply is constrained (eg: cold snaps in winter with little wind), the spot price can surge to £1000/MWh.

Yes, like I said, UK CfD strike prices (both nuclear and wind) are always quoted in 2012 prices.

But even adjusting for inflation, offshore wind's £59.90 is a fraction of the retail price that UK consumers and most businesses pay for electricity. There's plenty of margin left for the middlemen (regulator, grid operator, distribution network operator, electricity retailer, etc).

... and Hinkley Point C's £92.50 is £133.79 today, and could be £160+ by the time it actually starts generating in (maybe?) 2031.

Not when you take the circular economy into account. We’ve always been very good at making boilers. Less so semiconductors.