FiT reforms causing conflicting opinions

The feed in tariff's (FiTs), are again causing problems for the Government after they announced that they will reform them this has raised conflicting opinions, with one company declaring the reforms favour solar power and ignore wind energy. The government last week announced plans to ensure the future of the Feed-in Tariffs scheme to make it more predictable, stating that transparency, longevity and certainty are at the heart of the new improved scheme.

The DECC announced that the reforms would provide greater confidence to consumers and industry investing in exciting renewable technologies such as solar power, anaerobic digestion, micro-CHP, wind and hydro power. "A proposal to develop a small hydro or wind project can take up to two years to achieve planning consent and a further year to complete. Anaerobic digesters can take just as long. Pre-registration would help smooth this process to guarantee a viable project." Read more ...

Department of Energy & Climate Change loses solar appeal

The Court of Appeal this week ruled that under the Energy Act 2008 the government does not have the power to change feed-in tariff rates retrospectively. This rejection of a Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), appeal means that higher (pre December) rates for solar projects will most probably continue to apply until a government compromise deal comes into effect.

However, the government has sought a further appeal at the Supreme Court, which could yet impact upon the rates from December to March. It will be known whether they receive this in the next few days. Read more ...

UK: Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) will go-ahead

The long awaited Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is to go ahead, but there will be cuts to the tariff of large scale biomass. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said yesterday "the RHI for the non-domestic market had received the go-ahead from the European Commission following revisions to the regulations of the scheme. These changes will see the tariff for large-scale biomass cut by more than 60 percent. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the scheme will now launch in late November". Read more ...

New co-firing renewables obligation subsidies get interest

The biomass industry has cautiously welcomed the new levels of support unveiled by the government today as part of its consultation on proposed changes to the Renewables Obligation scheme. In its review of the Renewables Obligation, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has proposed maintaining current levels of support for biomass projects at 1.5 Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) per megawatt hour (MWh). This could have a major affect on the biomass industry and the renewable energy sector. Read more ...

Green heat scheme delayed in the UK

The green heat scheme will be launched by the end of November, one month after it was due to begin. The delay comes from complaints by the European commission (EC) that subsidies were too high for large biomass technology. A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said "the EC are concerned that the tariff setting methodology used for the large scale biomass tariff differed from that applied for other technology bands, resulting in too high a tariff being set." Read more ...