Scottish Renewables warns on uncertain future for small renewable projects
Aug 19, 2015 16:28 CEST
August 19 – Scottish Renewables on Wednesday released data showing Scotland’s “love affair” with small-scale renewables and warned that new projects face an uncertain future with the feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme looking set to be slashed.
According to the figures from the industry body and Scotland’s Rural College, around 42,000 solar systems, or some 660,000 pieces of 250-W solar panels; 2,557 small wind projects; 204 hydroelectric facilities; and three anaerobic digesters are currently generating electricity for Scottish homes, businesses and community buildings. Scotland has 23% more small-scale renewables per capita than England and Wales, and has almost eight times as much small-scale wind.
The announcement comes as a UK government consultation on removing preliminary accreditation from the FiT programme closes today, with a full FiT review upcoming. Scottish Renewables said that the review, which was set to start in days, “could see huge cuts to support across all technologies, or remove support altogether.”
Stephanie Clark, policy manager at Scottish Renewables, said that the current level of change and uncertainty was already punishing the sector and that further cost-cutting proposals were expected to be announced within the next month.
“Small-scale renewables can continue to thrive in the UK, but the sector urgently needs confirmation that it has the backing of the Government,” she said.
Small-scale renewable power projects are usually supported by the FiT scheme. They can be up to 5 MW and most are owned by homeowners, business and community organisations, although there are some commercial projects.
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