UK government announces cuts for large-scale solar

• 10 years ago (2014-05-16)
• Junior Isles

Europe 1089 Renewables 776

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The UK government is drastically scaling down its support for large solar energy farms, in a move aimed at refocusing the renewable support budget from next April but likely to hurt the solar industry and constrain green jobs.

The UK currently has about 2.7 GW of solar energy generation, and the government has said its proposals would keep the UK on track for its new target of having about 10-12 GW of capacity in 2020. This is a much reduced target compared with the 2012 estimates by the Department of Energy and Climate Change that the UK could have 20 GW of solar power by the end of the decade.

Large solar farms above 5 MW of generation capacity will bear the brunt of the reforms. Instead of a fixed feed-in-tariff, these plants will now be forced to compete with other renewable energy such as onshore wind turbines and energy-from-waste plants for a limited amount of subsidy funding under the government’s ‘contracts for difference’ system.

Community solar energy projects will have subsidy regulations relaxed and be allowed to double their size from 5 MW to 10 MW, while people who choose to put solar panels on their roofs can expect a bigger share of the current subsidy than those who choose ground-mounted panels.

This change to the UK’s renewable energy support follows the recent announcement that the governing Conservatives also want to axe subsidies for new onshore wind farms if they win the 2015 general election.

The government has insisted the changes were necessary, with a government spokesman stating that new system would be fairer, and create "the right balance of support for renewables… securing the further investment we need to provide clean, green and secure energy, while continuing to deliver value for money for energy billpayers".

Paul Barwell, chief executive of the Solar Trade Association, said the proposals, which are now being consulted on, were a "crippling blow" and that “the industry will be alarmed by these proposals and surprised to be singled out for harsh treatment”.

Alasdair Cameron, energy campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: "Financial support for solar has already fallen, and any further reductions should only be carried out in a planned way as [equipment] costs drop. But suddenly pulling the rug out from under a popular growing clean energy industry makes no sense, and would put thousands of jobs at risk."