The Government is committed to meeting 15 per cent of Britain’s energy demands from renewable resources by 2020, and solar power has an important role to play in this.
Renewable energy is supported through a scheme called the Levy Control Framework (LCF), which allows the Government to control public expenditure paid for out of consumers’ energy bills through the Renewables Obligation. This has provided significant financial support to the renewable sector, but in real terms (2011/12 prices) current LCF forecasts are equivalent to an increase from £7.6bn to £9.1bn in 2020/21.
This makes it necessary for the Department for Energy and Climate Change to take action to control costs, so it is now consulting on a set of proposals that include closing the Renewables Obligation to new solar PV projects of 5MW and below, and additional capacity added to an accredited solar PV station up to 5MW, from 01 April 2016.
Government support has already driven down the cost of renewable energy significantly, and this makes it easier for parts of the industry to do without subsidy from taxpayers. It is important to reduce carbon emissions in a cost-effective way while keeping household energy bills as low as possible, protecting existing investment as well as consumers.
The consultation closed on 02 September. You can find further details on the UK Government website, www.gov.uk, by searching on the term ‘Solar PV projects of 5MW and below’.
By Patrick McLoughlin on October 12, 2015