The UK Independence Party has outlined plans to withdraw all subsidies for solar PV in its election manifesto, deeming the technology too expensive.
The party’s manifesto includes an energy plan for the UK which it claims would offer increased energy security, focusing on coal, nuclear and gas as the primary sources of electricity.
UKIP said it “supports and will invest in renewables”, but only when they can deliver electricity at competitive prices and considers hydro to be the “only major technology that meets this test”.
The party said it would withdraw all subsidies for both solar PV and wind, stating wind power in particular to be “hopelessly inefficient” and dropping subsidies would “ensure a level playing field for coal”.
UKIP also said it would repeal the Climate Change Act claiming it to have done “untold damage” to cost competitiveness, estimating its cost to the UK to be £720 billion between 2010 and 2050.
UKIP also saved ire for the Department for Energy and Climate Change, which it has pledged to abolish on the basis that its duties could be carried out by other existing governmental departments.
Nigel Farage’s party are the last to unveil their election manifesto and have been the most scathing of renewable energy.
The Conservative Party was yesterday attacked after failing to commit to renewable energy support in its own manifesto, while Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens all included support to varying degrees in their respective manifestos launched earlier this week.