The recently announced comprehensive Feed in Tariff (FIT) review will bring welcome news for farmers and others who are involved in the development of farm-based Anaerobic Digestion (AD) technology.
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne launched the review which would "Assess all aspects of the scheme including tariff levels, administration and eligibility of the technologies". The review follows campaigns by the CLA and other industry bodies who feel the current FIT payments are too low to make AD a viable energy source.
Feed in Tariffs for farm-based AD plants will receive a fast track consideration and should see an increase in FIT payments outlined before the end of the year. Changes will not be made to the tariffs until April 2012 unless the review deems it necessary for greater urgency.
Mark Newton of Fisher German comments "The review should see an increase in the amount farmers receive for the electricity they produce through AD. This will really push this technology forward. The current payments are too low and we have found that farm-scale AD is out of reach for most farmers. We anticipate a renewed interest by farmers and investors in this area by the end of the year".
The review would also see a likely reduction to the FITs for larger installations such as solar parks and rooftop installations over 50kW. The reductions in larger scale PV would seek to encourage the development of sub 50kW installations on domestic, commercial or agricultural buildings.
Mr Newton comments "The review of Feed in Tariffs for larger scale PV does not send out a positive message for investing in renewables if the Government are going to change payments at short notice. Many private investors are larger energy companies who have invested many millions in solar parks which may now not be financially viable".
