Britain said on Thursday it will go ahead with reducing support tariffs for large scale solar plants from Aug. 1, despite vocal resistance from the industry, according to Reuters. Government incentives, so-called feed-in-tariffs (FITs), for solar plants larger than 50 kilowatts (kW) will be cut nearly in half for the smallest projects. "It's going to make delivery of large scale solar projects in the UK very difficult, if not impossible. But it will re-focus attention on the smaller end of the market where the government is hoping to see penetration," said Ronan O'Regan, director of energy and utilities at consultancy PwC. The energy ministry announced its initial proposals for fast-tracking a reduction in the tariffs on March 18, which caused an outcry among solar plant developers who had expected a review of tariffs only next year. "This is really bad news, the government is not listening. It sends a very clear signal to solar investors: don't come to the UK," said Howard Johns, chairman of the Solar Trade Association. The government's consultation period on the tariff cuts, which attracted more than 500 reactions, ended on May 6 and solar plant developers have been waiting since to find out whether the cuts will be implemented from this summer. "We have carefully considered the evidence that has been presented as part of the consultation and this has reinforced my conviction of the need to make changes as a matter of urgency," said Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker in a statement on Thursday. "Without action the scheme would be overwhelmed." Barker said 20 large scale solar schemes would cost around 26 million pounds ($42.70 million) per year, a sum which could cover photovoltaic installation for more than 25,000 households. INVESTMENTS IN SOLAR SEEN DRYING UP The new tariffs will apply to projects starting up from Aug. 1 onwards and will not affect plants installed before then. More mature renewable energy markets such as Germany, Spain and Italy have also seen large cuts in government support tariffs for solar projects in recent years as the uptake of projects outstripped forecasts. But solar investors have argued support for green energy projects needs to be dropped gradually to ensure the industry matures. "We need economies of scale, we can't wait for someone else to do it for us. No one will invest in solar manufacturing in the UK now, there's no market," Johns said. Britain needs to generate 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 to meet government targets, compared with 6.7 percent installed in 2009. "With mounting concern about the rising price of fossil fuels and the impact of global climate change the government should be increasing financial support for clean, green energy - not cutting it," said Friends of the Earth's green energy campaigner Donna Hume. Thursday's tariff review also increased subsidies for anaerobic digestion (AD), a process by which bacteria produce methane from fermented organic waste. AD projects of up to 250 megawatts (MW) will receive around two pence more in government support than before the review. New FITs for solar are: - 19p/kWh for 50kW to 150kW - 15p/kWh for 150kW to 250kW - 8.5p/kWh for 250kW to 5MW and stand-alone installations These compare to previous tariffs of: - 32.9p/kWh for 10kw to 100kw - 30.7/kWh for 100kw to 5MW and stand-alone installations New FITs for anaerobic digestion are: - 14p/kWh for AD installations of up to 250 kW - 13p/kWh for AD installations between 250 kW and 500 kW These compare to previous tariffs of: - 12.1p/kWh for AD up to 500 kW.
