Solar farms threaten microgeneration funding
Industrial-scale solar farms are posing a threat to the government’s green subsidy that pays homeowners, schools and small community groups for installing microgeneration solar panel systems.
An announcement is expected this week from the government on the fate of their scheme, with a review of the feed-in-tariff (FIT) policy, originally planned for 2012, that has been brought forward in response to the increasing number of solar farms being given planning permission.
Through the feed-in tariff, the government pays homeowners, businesses and organisations that may include schools and community groups, for the electricity they generate through small-scale solar panels installations.
When it was set up in April last year, the idea was that the feed-in-tariff (FIT) would encourage the take-up of renewable energy systems and provide some communities with self-generated green power and reduced annual energy bills.
What no one seems to have predicted is the emergence of large-scale solar farms. Last month, Cornwall council granted planning permission for its fourth solar farm – the 5MW Lanhydrock photovoltaic (PV) solar farm. Other counties, including Dorset, Devon and Cambridgeshire, also have proposals on the table.
Charles Hendry, the energy minister, commented to newspapers: “We have indicated a concern that [the FIT] is intended for micro-generation. If all the funding was taken up by large-scale commercial operations, that would be against the spirit of what is being intended. It would mean the funding available for domestic householders and businesses would be shrinking dramatically.”
“We see the objective as having a significant number of small installations in place rather than solar farms.”
Critics advise that the worry is such farms will use up money from the Feed-in Tariff pot, meaning less funding will be available for smaller-scale, community-based renewable energy schemes. The government’s spending review in October introduced a limit on FIT payments.
“There’s nothing wrong with solar farms per se,” said Craig Jackson, a member of the South Yorkshire Housing Association’s green team. “But they need to be viewed and treated differently from the community schemes the tariff was created to support. If this distinction isn’t made, communities will lose out.”
Hopefully, the review will see solar farms being dealt with separately. However, some stakeholders have expressed concern that the review could damage the burgeoning PV industry.
“The government needs to get on top of this issue and clarify how FIT is going to proceed, but it’s vitally important that the review does not undermine confidence in the PV market and undermine investor confidence in the entire micro-generation market,” advised one solar industry source.
The manager of planning and regeneration at Cornwall council, Adrian Lea, insists that solar farms are a positive development. “It begs the question of what the purpose of a feed-in tariff is for. To me, the purpose [of the tariff] is to develop a solar PV industry, to bring forward renewable energy infrastructure within the UK, and to meet renewable energy targets.”
The government confirmed in the spending review that the FIT scheme would be cut by 10% (£40m) in 2014 and 2015.
*Update*
The department for energy and climate change today announced a comprehensive review of the FIT scheme, looking at “large scale solar installations and farm-scale Anaerobic Digestion plants.” Tariff levels for the FITs will be reviewed, though the government said it will not act on them retrospectively.
Energy secretary Chris Huhne said: “Large scale solar installations weren’t anticipated under the FITs scheme we inherited and I’m concerned this could mean that money meant for people who want to produce their own green electricity has the potential to be directed towards large scale commercial solar projects.”
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