Ofgem confirms 3.5% FiT degressions in January 2015

Ofgem has confirmed that all tariff bands <50kW in the feed-in tariff (FiT) will degress by 3.5% come 1 January 2015.

The minimum automatic degression has been enacted after installations in the <50kW bands failed to trigger any automatic degressions. The FiT rates for installations with an eligibility date on or after 1 January 2015 will be as follows:

Commenting on the new tariff rates, Paul Barwell CEO of the Solar Trade Association told Solar Power Portal: “Another nine months have gone by and with them another forced degression. It is a concern for the domestic and commercial rooftop market that deployment isn’t stronger, particularly following the anticipated growth for 2014.”

However, Barwell explained that the domestic sector is now showing signs of growth, with 103MW installed in the third quarter of 2014. Barwell added: “This would have been enough to trigger a 3.5% cut in its own right. For the first time in two years we understand from our installer and distributor network that there is likely to be further growth in Q4 prior to the tariff reduction in January.”

The domestic market has been the main driver of solar PV deployment since the introduction of the feed-in tariff but ground-mount solar capacity is now set to overtake rooftop capacity before the end of the year, according to NPD Solarbuzz.

Barwell concluded that more work is required to ensure that the UK’s domestic solar sector reaches its potential, he said: “Government needs to do more to get the market growing, by removing the barriers to growth and changing the policy framework. The STA has put together its ‘Path to Zero Subsidy’, as part of our forthcoming Solar Independence Plan, which was presented during Solar Energy UK. With more details to come in the next edition of Solar Business Focus UK.”

The table below summarises deployment under the feed-in tariff from January to September 2014:

Source: STA

The full solar PV feed-in tariff rates can be found on Ofgem’s site.