Following the Government’s recent FiT cuts, Brighton Energy Co-operative has been forced to postpone the launch of its share offer as it waits for the results of the FiT review for community schemes, which is due December 23.
Director Will Cottrell said: “We have made this decision reluctantly, but our primary concern is for our investors and we felt that given the uncertainty surrounding feed-in-tariff for community schemes, it was more sensible to wait until the Government was clear what support it will give to community schemes.
“We are very disappointed that our plans, which we have been working on for the past 18 months, now have to be put on hold because of events outside of our control. However, we are determined to bring community-owned green energy to Brighton and Hove and continue to do so once the Government has decided on the feed-in-tariff levels for community schemes.
“We would like to thank our investors and local people for their ongoing support.”
The postponement of the project halts planned installations at four separate sites across Brighton and the potential to avoid 1,085 tonnes of carbon emissions over the lifetime of the project.
Damian Tow, Brighton Energy Co-operative's project director, said: “The speed of the feed-in-tariff cut by 12th December has made it impossible for us to continue with confidence. We urge the Government to show support for community-owned energy schemes, which, after all, incorporate many of its Big Society aims.”