FiT Review
Monday 31st October 2011
The Department for Energy and Climate Change issued its consultation on changes to the Feed in Tariff applicable to the solar sector today. As expected, there are heavy cuts proposed in the FiT and these are set out in paragraph 1.
1. Current and proposed generation tariffs for solar pv
| Band (kW)
|
Current generation tariff (p/kWh)
|
Proposed generation tariff (p/kWh)
|
|
37.8 | 21.0 |
|
43.3 | 21.0 |
| >4-10kW | 37.8 | 16.8 |
| >10-50kW | 32.9 | 15.2 |
| >50-100kW | 19 | 12.9 |
| >100-150kW | 19 | 12.9 |
| >150-250kW | 15 | 12.9 |
| 250kW-5MW | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| stand alone | 8.5 | 8.5 |
These changes are to apply from 1 April 2012 to all projects with an eligibility date of 12 December 2012. Essentially, the eligibility date is the date an array is eligible to receive the FiT.
2. Other changes
In addition to the proposed changes to the tariff, the plan is to introduce a:
2.1. New regime that applies to those that own or receives FiT payments from more than one installation; and
2.2. New energy efficiency requirement.
Both of these changes would apply to schemes with an eligibility date on or after 1 April 2012.
3. More Information
More information is available on the websites of the Department for Energy and Climate Change and Regensw.
http://www.decc.gov.uk/
http://www.regensw.co.uk/
4. Consultation
These proposals are subject to review under the consultation process announced by the Department for Energy. Given the tight timetable and HM Treasury's involvement in the process, we are not convinced there will be major changes, but it is worth considering responding under the consultation process.
5. Conclusion
Government policy seems to be directed towards providing indirect support for the UK manufacturing industry. The proposed changes to the support levels under the Renewable Obligation Certificates announced last week increased the support for tidal flow and wave schemes and retained it at a higher rate for longer than expected for offshore wind. All of these technologies are ones where the UK is in the lead or has a considerable involvement.
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