Mark Shorrock, chief executive of Low Carbon Solar, says:
"The proposals on cuts in tariffs outlined in the Government’s consultation announced today (18March) as part of the fast-track review of Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) are nothing short of disastrous. If adopted the proposals would mean a large rooftop installation on a school or office with 100kW capacity would see available incentives cut 42 per cent, while solar farms with up to 5MW will see incentives slashed by 72 per cent. The result is that hundreds of solar energy community schemes are in jeopardy. The Government states its new proposed tariffs will bring the UK into line with the levels of incentives available to solar farm developers in Germany, France and Spain however solar industries in those countries have had several years of higher tariffs to help them build up capacity and drive down costs whereas the UK has had less than a year.
"There are many long-term benefits to community scale solar projects including local community ownership schemes, a diversified income for farmers and landowners, reduced energy costs for businesses, schools and hospitals, thousands of jobs and the legacy of a skilled local workforce – these are now all at risk. The whole reason for the FIT is to encourage green energy generation to tackle climate change. About 30% of our energy must come from renewable sources by 2020 or we risk hefty fines from Europe. It is nonsensical that at the same time the Government is proposing to severely handicap the FiT scheme for solar that was designed to be part of the solution to renewable energy growth for the UK . As a result Low Carbon Solar is now exploring legal options."
