Update on The Solar Panel Feed in Tariff
The Department for Energy and Climate Change has put forward draft licence modifications which allow for a reduced Feed in Tariff rate for new solar panel installations as of 3rd march 2012.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker explained that the new Feed in Tariff rates for solar panel installations should in brought in as soon as possible, in order to protect customer bills and prevent bust in the whole Feed-in Tariff budget. Should the modifications come in to effect, the new Feed in Tariff rate as of 3rd march 2012 would be 21p.
Solar panel news and renewable energy news on 19th January 2012 provided by independent solar panel companies for Find Solar Panel Installers, one of the UK's strongest solar pv directories.
- Feed-in Tariff Update
DECC has today laid before Parliament draft licence modifications which, subject to the Parliamentary process set out in the Energy Act 2008, makes provision for a reduced tariff rate (from 1 April 2012 onwards) for new solar PV installations with an eligibility date on or after 3 March 2012 under the Feed – in Tariffs scheme (FITs).
Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said:
“I know this is a difficult time for the sector and I want to do as much as I can to end the current uncertainty created by the legal challenge.
“We must reduce the level of FITs for solar panels as quickly as possible, to protect consumer bills and to avoid bust in the whole Feed-in Tariff budget. We’re appealing against the court ruling that’s challenged our proposal for a December reference date. This remains our aim, and we are waiting for the judgment of the Court of Appeal. But this is too important for us to sit and do nothing while we wait. Today we’re putting in place a contingency that will bring a 21p rate into effect from April for installations from 3 March.
“However, we are still pressing ahead with our appeal and if successful, we retain the option of introducing a December reference date. In the circumstances we believe this gives the industry as much certainty as is possible. And it puts us in a better position to protect the budget for everyone involved.”
Further information on the Government’s response to this aspect of the FITs consultation, together with a summary of the relevant consultation responses, is also being published today on the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s website.
The consultation closed on 23 December 2011 and over 2,000 consultation responses were received which we have been analysing carefully. We are intending to announce the outcome of the consultation by 9 February 2012, in time for any resulting legislative changes to come into effect from 1 April 2012. Our aim is that this announcement will be accompanied by a set of reform proposals for the next phase of the comprehensive review of the FITs scheme, which will be the subject of a further consultation.
Thu 19th Jan 2012 1:23pm - Written Ministerial Statement on Solar PV Feed-in Tariffs
19 January 2012
On 31 October 2011, the Government published a consultation on Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) for solar photovoltaics (PV). This was in response to a substantial increase in deployment of PV, prompted by falling prices, with levels at nearly double the original projections for the first two years of the scheme. The consultation set out proposals for responding to these developments, which were putting unsustainable pressure on the budget available for FITs.
The consultation sought views on whether to reduce the generation tariffs available for new solar PV installations to a more financially sustainable level. Among other things, it proposed applying the new generation tariffs from 1 April 2012 to all new solar PV installations with an eligibility date on or after an earlier “reference date”, which we proposed should be 12 December 2011. This reference date proposal has since been challenged by judicial review and the Government has sought an appeal of the decision of the High Court. We are now waiting for a judgment from the Court of Appeal and we cannot be sure of the date on which this will be issued.
We continue to stand by our original proposal. However, I know that the uncertainty while we await the Court’s decision is difficult for the industry. A retention of the 43p tariff could also create substantial risks to the FITs budget if our appeal is unsuccessful. For these reasons, we believe it is prudent to bring forward our decision on one aspect of the consultation: the proposals for new solar PV tariffs.
We are therefore laying before Parliament today some draft licence modifications which, subject to the Parliamentary process set out in the Energy Act 2008, makes provision for a reduced tariff rate (from 1 April 2012 onwards) for new PV installations with an eligibility date on or after 3 March 2012.
If the Court finds in favour of the Government’s appeal, we intend to stand by all our consultation proposals, including an earlier (December) reference date, subject to the Parliamentary procedure and consideration of consultation responses. It is very important that we reserve this as an option because these 43p payments will take a disproportionate share of the budget available for small-scale low-carbon technologies. We want instead to maximise the number of installations that are possible within the available budget rather than use available subsidy to pay a higher tariff to a smaller number of installations.
The consultation closed on 23 December 2011 and over 2,000 consultation responses were received which we have been analysing carefully. We are intending to announce the outcome of the consultation by 9 February 2012, in time for any resulting legislative changes to come into effect from 1 April 2012. Our aim is that this announcement will be accompanied by a set of reform proposals for the next phase of the comprehensive review of the FITs scheme, which will be the subject of a further consultation.
The new generation tariffs set out in the draft licence modifications being laid today are set out in the table below and would apply for all installations with an eligibility date on or after 3 March 2012. Further information on the Government’s response to this aspect of the consultation, together with a summary of the relevant consultation responses, is also being published today on the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s website and will be available from www.decc.gov.uk/FITs.
Thu 19th Jan 2012 1:04pm - Ethical agents
New enterprises channel valuable resources across supply chains.
What do these initiatives have in common? A raspberry farm in South Africa called Haygrove Heaven, which transforms its labourers into small-scale entrepreneurs. CottonConnect, a one-stop-shop to help retailers and brands trace where their cotton comes from and solve problems across all stages of production. And The Better Trading Company, which connects small-scale producers from the developing world with Western retailers, bringing them closer to the market and putting new, exotic products on store shelves.
Thu 19th Jan 2012 6:12pm - Are we on the cusp of a third industrial revolution?
Jeremy Rifkin shares his compelling vision of a bright new energy economy with Green Futures’ Editor in Chief, Martin Wright.
Imagine the internet, only for energy.
Imagine that, as well as tens of millions of personal computers all linked together, exchanging information this way and that, you had tens of millions of personal power stations, pumping electricity to and fro.
Imagine if, working together, they made fossil fuels redundant, resolved all our fears about energy security, and kickstarted a new era of peer-to-peer power sharing. Oh, and made a decisive impact on climate change, too…
Then you’re imagining the sort of future laid out by Jeremy Rifkin, maverick economist and adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and a clutch of EU leaders.
Thu 19th Jan 2012 9:15am
