Renewable Energy Installer December/January 2014 | Page 41

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THE BUSINESS OF
BUSINESS OF
THE
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MICROGENE
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SOLAR THER
SOLAR PV
PUMPS
BIOMASS HEAT
WIND
SOLAR PV
SOLAR THERMAL
August 2013
HYDRO July/
MICROGENERATION
HYDRO
BIOMASS HEAT PUMPS WIND
5th anniversary issue
THE BUSINESS OF
MICROGENERATION
SOLAR
2013 THERMAL SOLAR PV BIOMASS HEAT PUMPS WIND HYDRO
September
October 2013
THE BUSIN
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Mobile apps
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month later, the industry was given its first
glimpse of final tariffs for the domestic RHI
as the government confirmed what financial
support would be made available. A launch
date was also set for this spring. A sceptical
industry was generally enthusiastic about
the document as tariff levels had been set
at the upper end of those proposed during
consultation.
“After numerous delays and uncertainty
surrounding the scheme, DECC’s
announcement has been a welcome injection
of confidence, providing clarity that secure,
long-term tariff support will be made available
to the domestic renewable heating technology
mix,” said Phil Hurley, managing director at
NIBE.
Heat pumps were in the news during
August following the publication of The
Energy Saving Trust’s heat pump trials
phase two, which showed significant
technological performance improvements
since the original study in 2010.
The unappetising proposition of anti dumping
tariffs on Chinese PV products looked to have
been averted in August after the European
Commission endorsed a minimum pricing
offer from Chinese manufacturers. In a
statement, EU trade commissioner, Karel De
Gucht, said: “After weeks of intensive talks, I
can announce today that I am satisfied with
the offer of a price undertaking submitted
by China’s solar panel exporters. This is the
amicable solution that both the EU and China
were looking for.”
r 2014
REI passed a significant milestone a month
later by celebrating its fifth birthday.
Another achievement was reached during
September when statistics published by
DECC showed that the amount of electricity
generated from renewable energy sources had
reached a new record high of 15.5 percent
of total electricity generation in the second
quarter of this year.
There was no let up in October with the
launch of a £500,000 renewable heat incentive
training support scheme (RHITSS) to help
assist installers with the cost of upskilling.
Greg Barker also handed a boost to the PV
sector by unveiling the government’s first ever
solar strategy roadmap at the Solar Energy
UK exhibition. The document reinforced
the four key challenges which the final
strategy will address in order to increase PV
proliferation across the UK – cost reduction,
carbon effectiveness, sustainability and
scaleability.
We end of the year with renewable energy
very much at the top of the news agenda.
Energy bills became the focus of the final
months of 2013 following Labour leader Ed
Miliband’s pledge to freeze energy bills
should his party win the 2015 general election,
followed by the majority of the ‘big six’ energy
suppliers increasing tariffs by 8-10 percent.
Prime minister David Cameron then entered
the fray by promising to ‘review green taxes’
in an effort to alleviate the burden of rising
fuel bills on hard-pressed consumers. To this
problem at least, the industry can look forward
to 2014 and beyond by offering an ace card
to homeowners seeking a permanent way of
lowering energy bills.
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