The International Energy Agency has echoed UK solar industry concerns regarding a lack of certainty regarding renewables support policy, warning of a detrimental effect on deployment.
In its Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report 2015 published this morning, the IEA scaled back its expectations for additional to renewable net capacity out to 2020, considering that the uncertain policy environment would pose a significant challenge for deployment.
The report warns that the proposals to reduce the small-scale feed-in tariff by as much as 87% as of January 1 would “slow deployment going forward” and that this was not being helped by governmental steps to limit further support through the RO scheme due to a lack of available funding through the Levy Control Framework.
“Enhanced deployment in the United Kingdom would require rapid clarification of future support for new onshore wind and solar PV… [and] an increased pace and scale of auctions and the funding pots available for different technologies could help spur greater renewable deployment, particularly in wind, bioenergy and solar PV,” the report states.
“Nevertheless, given current signals from the government, the upside in 2020 is highly uncertain versus the main case,” it concludes.
The report comes on the back of a number of institutions issuing similar warnings, perhaps most notably Big Four consultancy firm EY dropping the UK out of its Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index top 10 for the first time in its 12-year history.