Government confirms Renewables Obligation will remain open to projects between 50kW and 5MW
Important for commercial developers with increasingly smaller schemes
Industry praises focus on evidence ahead of onshore costs review and potential review of degression triggers for Feed-in Tariff scale wind
RenewableUK, the trade and professional body for the wind and marine energy industries, has welcomed the Government’s decision that the Renewables Obligation will remain open for projects of between 50kW and 5MW, following industry feedback.
The decision is important for both onshore commercial developers and the UK’s world leading small and medium wind industry.
Commercial onshore wind developers are increasingly bringing forward smaller projects. Under the Government’s original proposals, these would have been forced into an unfamiliar mechanism, meaning they would have found it harder to get funding. This could have delayed projects which are key to our future energy security, and inhibited the provision of much needed benefits to the local areas due to the investment that they bring from contracts and community benefits. An average onshore wind farm brings in £100,000 per MW to the local area over its lifetime.
The change also brings some relief to the UK’s world-leading small and medium wind energy sector which has UK manufacturers situated across the country, making machines for domestic and business usage. If commercial schemes had been restricted to using the Feed-in-Tariff, the budget for that scheme would have been quickly exhausted, limiting the aspirations for homes and small businesses to generate their own energy and throwing into jeopardy British manufacturing.
RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive, Maf Smith, said:
“I’m pleased that the Government has listened to industry and has removed this particular issue for both commercial developers and the small and medium wind industry. It’s a great fillip for the whole renewables industry to know that the Government is working closely with business and making decisions based firmly on evidence.
“We trust we’ll see this constructive approach continuing through into the onshore costs review. It’s also vital that Government gets the degression thresholds in the Feed-in-Tariff right so that communities, farmers and other small businesses can share in the benefits of small and medium sized wind schemes, and our world leading industry can remain just that.”
RenewableUK is the trade and professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries. Formed in 1978, and with more than 640 corporate members, RenewableUK is the leading renewable energy trade association in the UK.
Source: Renewable UK
For more information on: Renewable UK