UK solar growth stalls following government subsidy cuts
According to recent figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, development of large solar power farms have stalled following government subsidy cuts in April. The government excluded farms larger than 5 mega-watts from its renewable obligation scheme and now concerns are mounting for smaller farms who will no longer have access to the RO scheme after April 2016.
The amount of solar power being installed in the UK has largely flatlined since the closure by the government of a subsidy scheme in April, even before a new round of subsidy cuts has taken effect.

Official figures released on Thursday show that large-scale solar farm developers rushed to connect to the grid in March to get in before the government excluded farms larger than 5MW, enough to power 2,500 homes, from its renewable obligation (RO) scheme.

But installations largely trickled to a halt after April, when the payments were stopped for new farms.

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Developers of smaller solar farms, those that are less than 5MW, are next in the firing line of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc), which has announced a series of attacks on renewable energy since the general election in May.

From April 2016, those smaller farms will also no longer be able to access the renewable obligation scheme. Announcing the move last week, energy and climate change secretary, Amber Rudd, said the change was needed to “keep bills as low as possible for hardworking families”.

This week Friends of the Earth wrote to her saying that the changes to smaller solar farms were so substantial that the length of consultation was unfair and should be extended by four weeks. Alasdair Cameron, the group’s renewables campaigner, said it was “rushed” and “undemocratic”.

Rudd announced that a separate scheme that pays householders for energy generated by solar panels on their roofs, the feed-in tariff, is also up for review in the autumn. The scheme, launched in 2010, has helped put panels on more than half a million homes.

Leonie Greene, a spokeswoman for the Solar Trade Association, said: “Next year we are sadly expecting solar installations to decline due to the government taking away key support for the industry at no notice. It therefore is essential that the forthcoming feed-in tariff proposals continue to provide adequate support to the industry if we are to have a strong UK solar industry.” The trade body said that due to a lag, the Decc figures were about 10% lower than in reality.

However, the increase in UK solar power capacity over the last year, and a run of sunny weather, led to a 153% jump of electricity output from solar in the second quarter of 2015 versus the same period in 2014.



Energy analyst EnAppSys, which highlighted the figure, said in a briefing note: “This represents the first time period in which GB [Great Britain] has seen significant levels of solar generation and the other generators in the market have had to adapt to this change.”

The Guardian has also found that the Big Six energy companies – British Gas, EDF, E.ON, Npower, SSE and Scottishpower – have no commercial solar power capacity on their generation arms.

The companies source their energy from coal, gas, nuclear and other renewables, such as wind power. But when contacted to see what percentage of their energy capacity is from solar, all said it was zero.

Juliet Davenport, the CEO of utility Good Energy, which sources 21% of its energy from solar, said: “It’s a shame the ‘dinosaurs’ in this industry have not embraced new technology like solar. I think customers want to know exactly where their energy is coming from. People are becoming more and more engaged in the energy market, and I think the bigger companies need to recognise this.”

Separate figures published today showed that 50% of the UK’s renewable electricity now comes from wind power. RenewableUK said the figures showed the government – which has announced an end to onshore wind subsidies – should not shoot the ‘lion’ of the renewable sector.

Dr Gordon Edge, the trade body’s director of policy, said: “Onshore and offshore wind is delivering the lion’s share of the clean electricity we need to keep the UK powered up. But, when it comes to onshore wind, the government is lining up this lion to be shot.”