Friends of the Earth, Homesun and Solarcentury’s appeal to the High Court over the Government’s handling of the feed-in tariff has ended in victory.
The hearing at the Royal Court of Justice, London has ruled in favour of the Friends of the Earth, Homesun and Solarcentury’s legal challenge.
The judge’s ruling allows a judicial review to be enacted that could force the Government to relaunch its consultation on feed-in tariffs.
The group’s lawyers have moved to remove the Government’s proposals to slash the feed-in tariff rate afforded to solar PV installations after December 12, which was slashed by more than 50 percent.
Lawyers representing the Department for Energy and Climate Change have been refused permission to appeal the decision.
The result of the hearing will be greeted with mixed enthusiasm throughout the industry. Many believe that the Government’s actions have thrown the small-scale solar industry into a state of huge economic uncertainty with the proposals. However, members of the industry are concerned about the ramifications of the victory, which is feared could damage the industry in the long run.
More to follow.
Government lawyers are defending the actions taken by DECC, arguing that the cuts to the feed-in tariff are not retrospective, and that Huhne was acting in the best interest of the scheme. The Government maintain that the scale and speed of the proposed cuts were necessary to preserve the feed-in tariff budget and therefore safeguard the scheme in the future.
Commenting on the case, REA Chief Executive, Gaynor Hartnell said: “Whilst all companies installing PV will have been appalled at having a tariff reduction imposed with six weeks’ notice, the majority of our members felt the tariffs should come down. It would have been far better, from the perspective of investor confidence, had Government been seen to react to industry calling for a tariff cut.
“Instead this “quick fire” reduction has caused huge disruption and a mad dash to install systems before the deadline, which is far from healthy. The industry can quickly mobilise itself and the final days before the cut-off saw around 9,000 systems a day being registered.
“The considered view is that the new tariff rates are acceptable. The greater worry is the interaction between energy efficiency requirements and PV; the measures proposed in the consultation will have the effect of constraining the market very significantly.
“The focus of the implementation of feed in tariffs has all been on PV, but we must not lose sight of the fact that wind, anaerobic digestion and small-scale hydro also benefits and developers of these schemes are anxious about the implications for their planned projects.
“Overall, the sooner we move towards stability the better. We very much want the Government to focus on the benefits PV can bring, and together we should be welcoming the dramatic cost reductions. Only if Government buys in to the bigger picture, and works with us to get on to a “glide path” to grid parity, can we look forward to the UK getting the best out of this game-changing technology.”
The hearing at the Royal Court of Justice, London, will continue today. The court’s decision is expected sometime this afternoon.
