Consultation on a review of the Feed-in Tariff scheme
Last Thursday (27th August) DECC launched their much anticipated consultation on reviewing the Feed-in Tarrif (FiT) – and what a bombshell it was.
The conservative party had clearly targeted renewables as part of their manifesto and on one hand they have to be commended for delivering on their pledges. On the other, these proposals stand to decimate an entire industry, cause the loss of 1000’s of green sector jobs and halt the deployment of sustainable onshore renewable energy generation across the UK.
Whilst the sector had been expecting a significant ‘squeeze’ to the commercial parameters promoted through the FiT, the current proposals are set to make most projects economically unviable after the changes come into force as proposed in January 2016. There is also fear that many manufacturers will be forced out of business, bringing into question future warranties, servicing and maintenance of existing products. This will have a big impact at the small to medium scale installations where adoption has been by individuals and small businesses.
The consultation proposes a banding review as follows:
| Proposed Generation Tariffs for Jan 2016 (p/kWh, Nominal prices) | Ofgem Tariffs for installations with an eligibility date on or after 1 October 2015 (p/kWh, 2015/16 values) | |||
| Solar PV | ||||
| 0 -10kW | 1.63 | <4kW | 12.47 | |
| 4-50kW | 11.30 | |||
| 10 – 50kW | 3.69 | |||
| 50 – 250kW | 2.64 | 50-150kW | 9.63 | |
| 150-250kW | 9.21 | |||
| 250-1000kW | 2.28 | 250-5000kW | 5.94 | |
| > 1000kW | 1.03 | |||
| Stand alone | 1.03 | Stand alone | 4.28 | |
| Wind | ||||
| <50kW | 8.61 | 0-100kW | 13.73 | |
| 50–1500kW | 4.52 | |||
| 100–500kW | 10.85 | |||
| 500–1,500kW | 5.89 | |||
| >1500kW | 0.00 | >1500kW | 2.49 | |
| Hydro | ||||
| <100kW | 10.66 | <15kW | 15.45 | |
| 15-100kW | 14.43 | |||
| 100-500 kW | 9.78 | 100-500kW | 11.40 | |
| 500-2000kW | 6.56 | 500-2000kW | 8.91 | |
| >2000kW | 2.18 | >2000kW | ||
It has to be stressed that these figures are only for consultation at the moment, but there are very few expectations of a huge shift in stance given the wider stance promoted by the government so far.
There is currently a big push to make projects safe for the ROC grace period or to get them installed before March 2016 (ROC) or January 2016 (FiT) next year. Wilson Fearnall can provide support in all areas of renewable development and are able to provide support during this important period.
Beyond Christmas? We will have to wait and see if any phoenix will rise from the ashes. Lets hope it can.
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