The UK’s small wind industry has raised alarm over plans by the Government to cut subsidies for domestic and business installations before the end of the year, saying it could face the same fate as the UK solar industry.
Last week, the
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) set out a series reforms of the
Feed-in Tariff (FiT), which could mean subsidies for household-scale
wind turbines are slashed by more than 40 per cent, while those for farms and small businesses are cut by more than a quarter in October.
But the wind industry has warned such cuts could have the same "chilling effect" on small wind as DECC’s controversial FiT cuts had on the solar PV industry, when it tried to push them through at the end of last year before proper consultation.
RenewableUK, the marine energy and wind industry trade association, warned "hundreds" of high-tech UK manufacturing jobs in the wind industry were now at risk.
"It’s key that [DECC’s] announcement doesn’t follow last year’s consultation on solar power by producing a chilling effect on all new projects – with all the implications for jobs that entails," RenewableUK’s director of Policy, Dr Gordon Edge, said.
The solar industry was left reeling when DECC tried to push through cuts of more than 50 per cent to domestic-scale solar PV systems in December, before it had completed a consultation on the changes. The move has since been ruled unlawful by High Court and the Court of Appeal, but is still subject to judicial review as DECC seeks to appeal the decisions to the Supreme Court.
Implications for small wind
The small wind industry is not facing the same scale and speed of cuts as the solar industry has, but nor has it seen the same level of deployment or the same reduction in costs of technology as PV. Unlike solar, small wind is subject to planning permission, and the industry warns DECC’s proposed cuts will already be having an impact on investment confidence as it can take up to 12 months to get planning permission.
"Household and business-scale wind turbines have been deployed in line with the Government’s predictions – if anything, deployment has not been as strong as we would have hoped because of the difficulty of securing planning permission for even small wind turbines," Edge said.
"The Government points to capital costs for some turbines coming down – but overall project costs have been rising across the technology sizes and manufacturers will face real dangers with the proposed cuts."
The cuts to small wind are among a number of reforms to the FiT DECC announced last week. It said the changes would ensure the scheme was "more predictable", certain and transparent and benefited more people.
"Instead of a scheme for the few the new improved scheme will deliver for the many," Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said.
However, Kevin Parslow, ceo of small wind manufacturer Evance Wind Turbines, said the changes would make small wind "less affordable".
"We are disappointed that DECC has suggested a further 25 to 41 percent reduction to the Feed-in Tariff for small wind turbine installations – particularly at a time when this important area of the
renewables industry is growing," he said.
RenewableUK called on the Government to work with the industry to ensure jobs and growth was maintained.
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