In its response to the consultation on the comprehensive review for solar feed-in tariff rates, DECC has published its intention to introduce a multi-installation tariff rate for aggregated projects.
DECC has confirmed that any FiT generator or recipient of FiT payments with 25 or more solar PV installations from April 1 will only receive 80 percent of the standard tariff rate, resulting in the following rates.
|
Band |
Multi-installation generation tariff (p/kWh) |
|
4kW (new build) |
16.8 |
|
4kW (retrofit) |
16.8 |
|
>4-10kW |
13.4 |
|
>10-50kW |
12.2 |
|
>50-100kW |
10.3 |
|
>100-150kW |
10.3 |
|
>150-250kW |
10.3 |
|
>250kW-5MW |
8.9* |
|
stand alone |
8.9* |
Source: DECC
DECC believes that the economies of scale associated with aggregated projects mean that they were being overly compensated, the 20 percent reduction will deliver a rate of return equivalent to that made available to individuals on the standard tariff.
HomeSun CEO, Daniel Green, strongly disagreed with Government’s reasoning, stating: “DECC justified this new lower tariff by saying that companies who own many installations have economies of scale – only having to deal with one multi-home owning landlord and being able to install several homes on the same street on the same day. However, this is simply not true for Free Solar for private, individual homes and DECC knows it.
“We agree with DECC and accept multi-home owning landlords should have a lower tariff but why punish the majority of the population who don’t have multiple homes and don’t have thousands of pounds to invest for years in a solar purchase? These people, who are struggling with their energy bills and are looking for some relief from the Big Energy companies have been deliberately excluded without reason, solar will now become the exclusive plaything of the wealthy who live in the south of England.”
DECC has also published proposals designed to support genuine community projects, so they can benefit fully from the FiT system. DECC has included a proposed definition of what it sees as “community” schemes, including a proposal that distinguishes between community aggregated projects and commercial aggregated projects, such as the rent-a-roof schemes currently operating.