Feed-in Tariff closure 'jeopardises ambitions for small-scale power'

The UK Government has announced that the Feed-in Tariff scheme, through which renewable energy generation under 5MW is supported, will close in March 2019.

Responding, Hannah Smith, Senior Policy Manager at Scottish Renewables, said: “The UK Government’s disappointing decision to close the Feed-in Tariff scheme jeopardises our ambitions for small-scale renewables, community-owned energy and the smarter, cleaner energy system which we need to fight climate change.

“Meeting the ambitions set out by Government in the smart systems and flexibility plan requires a robust and varied mix of renewable energy technologies. It is critical that a credible pathway setting out viable market-based solutions is in place before support for this scale of generation is removed. Without that pathway, industry will face significant challenges in the shift to the ‘smarter, cleaner future’ which Ofgem today predicted could cut household bills by £45 a year.

“While commitment to a number of grace periods is to be welcomed, it is particularly frustrating that comments made by the Minister in Parliament last month (Nov) regarding the export tariff have not been recognised in this consultation response, and that new small-scale renewable projects which connect from next spring will, under these plans, be providing electricity to the national grid for free.

“This decision is of particular concern for small Scottish projects, which are already facing significant cost increases because of a number of ongoing Ofgem reforms, as well as for the Scottish Government’s ambition that 2GW of community or locally-owned energy be installed by 2030. The Feed-in Tariff is a major driver of community-scale renewable energy, and we have already begun discussions with the Scottish Government to identify areas we can work on together to support the small-scale renewables sector, and look forward to continuing this."