Rame Energy has warned that proposed cuts to the feed-in tariff would have a substantial impact on its solar business, but remains confident that commercial rooftop installations can still be attractive for business owners.
The power provider announced its interim results for H1 2015 this warning and reported a strong start to the year for its UK installer subsidiary Beco, which has seen its portfolio grow to 500kW of projects either completed, under construction or in negotiation.
But chairman Bill Fisher warned that while the rest of 2015 looked “healthy” for Beco, the future would be “less certain”, owing to a proposed 87% cut to the small-scale feed-in tariff (FiT) which would come into effect on 1 January 2016 if approved next month.
“The government's opening position at the time of this announcement was that the feed-in tariffs would face substantial reductions for certain sizes of installation which would affect the level of underlying investment security provided by the tariff,” Fisher said.
Fisher does however remain confident for the future of the commercial rooftop market – something the Conservative government has been eager to stimulate – and argued that such installations could still offer “very substantial savings and price security” for business owners.
Rame Solar, a wholly owned subsidiary established in July to manage a 120kW commercial rooftop portfolio, has also identified other projects which are currently being considered for inclusion as the company looks to ramp up its efforts in the commercial market.
Fisher added that the full implications on Rame’s business would not be known until the consultation process had concluded, and that the company’s board would monitor the situation and respond accordingly.
Rame is not the first installation business to publicly discuss potential business implications caused by the proposals. At the start of this month energy efficiency firm Entu said it was to shutter its solar division citing an “increasingly difficult” UK market and it has been estimated that as many as 20,000 jobs will be lost if the proposals are passed in full.