Solar Media Staff

Energy and climate change secretary Amber Rudd has defended government decisions to scrap subsidy support for renewables a year earlier than planned, citing the need to tackle climate change in the “most cost-effective way”.

Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF) has shrugged off Wednesday’s announcement that Renewables Obligation support for sub-5MW projects is to be closed a year earlier than planned, insisting it will not have an impact on its business.

Solar developer Conergy has questioned the sincerity of the government’s recently announced consultation on support for solar energy.

Jon Ferris, head of energy markets at Utilitywise, discusses Wednesday’s subsidy cut proposals and why the government’s decisions on other green taxes such as the Climate Change Levy should attract more criticism

Solar can be the UK’s first subsidy-free renewable energy source and could reach grid parity by 2020 as long as the government can provide a “smooth transition” over the coming years, a report issued by both the Renewable Energy Association and Big Four auditors KPMG.

Former secretary of climate change, Conservative MP and newly appointed president of the British Photovoltaic Association (BPVA), Greg Barker has warned the solar industry against excessive “doom mongering” in the wake of fresh subsidy cuts.

A risk assessment published this morning by the Department for Energy and Climate Change alongside detail of plans to close the RO for sub-5MW solar projects revealed the cost of the scheme on consumers to be just £1.80 per year, writes Liam Stoker.

The solar industry has reacted furiously to recent governmental proposals which will heap uncertainty onto developers looking to proceed with solar projects, both roof- and ground-mount. 

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has confirmed that the Levy Control Framework (LCF) will run beyond the previous deadline of 2020, offering at least some assurance in an otherwise grey day for the renewables industry.

If there was one clear takeaway from the consultation and impact assessment releases by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) today, it would be – the government does not want any more solar farms as of today.