News
DECC under fire for drastic FiT cuts
Pressure is mounting on the government to rethink plans to virtually eliminate the
Feed-in Tariff for solar PV, amid fears of a catastrophic collapse in demand
n eight week consultation will
run until October 23, and if
applied the changes will see
the Feed-in Tariff rate slashed
by 87 percent from January 01, and possibly
scrapped completely if a budget cap for the
scheme is reached.
DECC has stressed the need for
consultation due to the risk of ‘projected
overspend’ and because it is required to
review subsidy schemes every three years by
the European Commission.
Opposition has been widespread
however with politicians, business leaders and
the industry itself stressing that the cut from
12.9p/kWh to 1.63p/kWh is too large and too
soon, when solar is close to gaining grid parity
and becoming subsidy free.
The government’s own impact
assessment acknowledges that domestic
demand for solar panels could fall by as much
as 6GW of installed capacity, jeopardising
20,000 jobs and millions of pounds of
investment in the sector.
A petition on the UK parliament website
had topped 22,000 signatures at the time of
going to print, whilst a joint campaign from
RenewableUK and the Solar Trade Association
is calling on the general public to show
support for solar via social media and by
writing to their local MPs.
A joint letter has been sent to energy
secretary Amber Rudd calling on government
to reconsider the scale of its proposals with a
growing list of signatories including IKEA, the
TUC and NFU.
Leonie Greene, head of external affairs at
the STA, said that cutting subsidy could end
up costing the government more money than
it saves, if deployment rates grind to a halt.
“It’s hard to think of a greater waste of
public money than building up a strong British
solar industry, and then pushing it over a cliff
before it is ready to fly.”
Reza Shaybani, BPVA chairman, added:
“This announcement is totally unacceptable
and unnecessary. This is bad news for the UK
solar industry but also very bad news for the
A
6 | www.renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk
Home alone: Cutting the Feed-in Tariff by almost 90 percent threatens to end Britain’s solar power
boom, says BSRIA’s Julia Evans
country as a whole. Cutting the FiT for rooftop
solar which reduces energy bills for millions of
homes and businesses is not defendable.”
The FiT announcement has hit an
industry already reeling from a succession of
cuts to financial support made since May by
the new Conservative government. In less
than four months following May’s general
election, decisions have been made to bar
wind and solar from further ROCs support,
abolish rules on zero carbon housing, close
Green Deal and remove renewable electricity’s
exemption from the Climate Change Levy.
Naturally this have left many questioning
the government’s commitment to the
environmental agenda, and its ability to meet
legally-binding carbon reduction targets.
Julia Evans, chief executive of BSRIA,
said: “Ministers slashing these subsidies
for solar panels is yet another sign that the
government’s enthusiasm for green energy
is waning. If implemented, such a step would
remove virtually all incentive for home owners
to install the panels and could mean the end
of Britain’s solar power boom.”
Solarlec director, Ged Rowbottom, said:
“It is particularly disappointing since the
energy secretary vowed to ‘unleash a solar
revolution’ when she was appointed just after
the election in May, suggesting millions more
homes should have solar panels on their roofs.
Now her department is proposing to remove a
key incentive to achieving that goal.
“If this goes ahead it will certainly have a
negative impact on the solar power industry,
and on the move away from non-sustainable
fossil fuel energy supplies.”
Cutting the FiT for rooftop
solar is not defendable