HomeSun states: “The FiT was due to reduce in April 2012, and the industry had proposed a reduction of 30%. Suddenly on 31st October, government announced a ‘consultation’ running to 23rd December, and a proposed cut of 50% from 12th December 2011. This announcement created chaos: thousands of people trying to get installed when there weren’t enough people or kits to do the job; thousands of businesses going to the wall because they had committed stock which wouldn’t be arriving until 2012; thousands of people put on notice of losing their jobs.”

A report commissioned by Friends of the Earth states that: “DECC’s plans will have dramatic, negative impacts on the solar industry and on the deployment of solar PV in the UK. DECC’s own Impact Assessment concedes that PV installations will fall 50-95%.The rate of new installations forecast by DECC in its proposals would support only around one-third of the jobs currently in the sector, placing at least 18,000 jobs at risk.”

The Government has now announced that no matter what the outcome of this latest appeal, they will implement the cuts on the 3rd March. The fear is that this will generate another rush on installations that the industry simply won’t be able to fit in time.

SolarCentury hosted a web-based Q&A session with Which? magazine to try to answer questions from the general public about the current status and the future of solar. By far and away the most common question was “Should I gamble on achieving a March installation?” Clearly the drive is still there to install panels and reap the rewards of clean energy, but even companies whose business is solar are advising caution until this final appeal is resolved.

The Assessment of Energy Production Potential from Tidal Streams in the United States, led by researchers at Georgia Tech Research Corporation in collaboration with DOE, is the first of its kind in the U.S. and includes a geographic information systems (GIS) tool available for public use. The report data concludes that U.S. water power resources, including ocean wave, tidal and conventional hydropower, have the potential to provide 15 percent of the U.S’s electricity by 2030.

The U.S. Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition welcome the reports. “The release of both reports demonstrates the attainable energy potential of our nation’s vast ocean resources,” said Sean O’Neill, OREC’s President. “DOE’s investment in these studies, as well as the corresponding results, is a testament to the importance of our unique opportunity to pursue a diverse energy portfolio that includes wave and tidal energy in an effort to secure our energy supply, create jobs and lower greenhouse gas emissions.”

The reports are the most rigorous assessments thus far undertaken by DOE and its collaborative partners, and show the significant renewable energy contributions that waves and tidal currents off of U.S. coasts could provide to the grid. DOE announced the information in the resource assessments could “help to further develop the country’s significant ocean energy resources, create new industries and new jobs in America, and secure U.S. leadership in an emerging global market.”

The wave energy assessment concludes that the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast (Washington, Oregon and California) and Alaska encompass the greatest available wave energy resources in the U.S. The report also outlines the wave energy potential along the East Coast from Maine through to North Carolina, and from South Carolina through to Florida as well as in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska’s Bering Sea, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

The tidal energy assessment designates and details data for energy resource ‘hot spots’ across the U.S. including Alaska, Maine, Washington, Oregon, California, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

An executive from Spirit Solar, Erica Robb, challenged David Cameron at a small business event today over the “weeks of chaos” that have resulted from the government’s proposals to cut feed-in tariff incentives for solar installations. She branded the decision to give the industry just six weeks notice of the tariff reductions as “disgraceful”. Confronting the Prime Minister, Miss Robb said: “Before Christmas we employed 80 people. We made 30 people redundant in the week before Christmas. This was following weeks of chaos caused by the short-notice cut done by your government to the feed-in tariffs.

“The High Court has ruled that the way you did that was unlawful and (the chairman of the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee) Tim Yeo has said it has undermined confidence, which you yourself have said is fundamental. Yet yesterday you lodged an appeal against the High Court decision twenty-five thousand people’s jobs rely on. How can you justify the appeal?”

Cameron replied “I’m afraid the government and the taxpayer and the bill-payer faced a really big problem which was that there was a feed-in tariff system set up under the last government that had very generous payments for people fitting solar panels to their roofs. I think that was a very good idea.

“The prices fell quite radically, in terms of the cost of solar panels, and so suddenly what was a reasonable tariff and a reasonable return for householders was looking like something that was much too generous – a 10% rate of return – and that was going to use up all the money that was set aside for years of this feed-in tariff.”

The reality is that the FIT scheme for solar is already in the red and the government has no choice but to act if they are to keep the scheme up and running. One solar company, Leeds Solar, have analysed the latest installation figures and calculated that the scheme will be over £100m over budget in 2012 based on today’s installations alone. Even the proposed cuts will not address this shortfall and the industry warns that the government must increase this budget.

The high court ruled just before Christmas that it would be unlawful for the government to cut feed-in tariff rates for Solar PV installations completed after 12 December on the grounds that the changes pre-empted the close date for the consultation. The government was also warned that any appeal was unlikely to be successful and were denied permission to lodge an immediate appeal.

Climate Minister, Greg Barker, is now waiting for permission to appeal the ruling and hopes to have a resolution by the end of January. He has also confirmed that the review of the consultation process over the FIT scheme is still on track for the end of January, with one key factor being to align the falling cost in technology with the level of subsidies. This should make any future changes to the FIT levels across the renewables industry much more transparent to all concerned and allow businesses to track and plan for these changes.

Naomi Thompson – Planning and Policy Advisor for FOE said the NPS’s should tie into climate change objectives and carbon budgets. Naomi was concerned that two incinerator proposals had been consented by the IPC without credible carbon capture infrastructure proposals.

A Judicial review to the NPS’s brought forward by Greenpeace/FOE will be heard in the high court next year.

The Westminster Energy, Environment and Transport forum conference: ‘Infrastructure Planning: next steps for the IPC transfer, and the impact of the Localism Bill‘ hosted presentations from the government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change and Sir Michael Pitt from the IPC.

Sir Michael Pitt spoke about the the transfer of responsibility from the IPC to the Planning Inspectorate. He said that the Inspectorate would be making recommendations to the Secretary of State for Energy by April 2012. Pitt emphasised how seriously the IPC take local authority views in relation to local impact assessments but other representatives said that nationally significant infrastructure projects such as nuclear power stations were more likely to get consent under the new regime.

Department for Energy and Climate Change spokesman Giles Scott said:
“since the general election 15 applications for nationally significant infrastructure projects have been consented totalling 8.8 Gigawatts worth £8.1 bn. These applications include CCGT, onshore wind, biomass, coal and nuclear”. Scott said he was “confident that the government can meet the projected 2025 energy requirements set out in the NPS for Energy”.

On the topic of investment, Chris Huhne said “Last year, global investment in renewable energy rose by 32% to $211 billion. And $142 billion of that was new financial investment, which excludes government and corporate R&D.
Renewables are grabbing a large and growing share of new energy investment.
We subsidise renewables to bring on deployment and reduce costs. And we’ve seen some remarkable successes: the cost of solar energy just keeps on tumbling.”
Although many disagree, the government say that this success is borne out in the recent reduction in subsidies for domestic solar panel installations. Although unpopular to those whose plans for an installation have stalled, it is testament to the fact that the initial investment has paid off.

Chris Huhne also addressed the question of capacity; “Today, more than 10 gigawatts of our electricity capacity is renewable. That’s enough to power six million homes.
And with every passing year, renewable energy takes over another percentage point of global electricity capacity.”
“Renewable energy can make our system more secure – not less. According to the International Energy Agency, renewables increase the diversity of electricity sources, making energy systems more flexible – and more resistant to shocks.”

The popularity of renewable energy schemes was also discussed; “Earlier this year, Ipsos MORI polled a thousand UK adults on which energy source they preferred. Eighty-eight per cent of those polled viewed solar power favourably; 82% for wind, 76% for hydroelectric, 57% for biomass.”

On the subject of job creation, Chris Huhne said “Across the United Kingdom, renewables are providing jobs, investment and growth. And the numbers are really starting to add up. Over the last financial year, nearly 4,500 new jobs were created in the low-carbon sector, which grew by 4.3%.”

The subject of EU and UK targets was discussed; “By the end of this decade, we must cut our carbon emissions by 34% on 1990 levels. By the end of the next decade, they must be halved.
To hit our EU renewable energy target, we must generate 30% of our electricity from renewables by 2020. That means a fourfold increase in deployment – turning our back on an inheritance that ranked us as the dunce in class, 25th out of 27 EU countries for renewables.”

Subsidies
As we have seen in recent announcement regarding solar subsidies, the government are reviewing their renewable subsidies across the board. “Where new technologies desperately need help to reach the market – where they can be scaled up significantly while bringing down costs over time – we are raising support.
Where investors are on the cusp, we will give them the short-term impetus they need. So marine energy projects up to 30 megawatts will receive five ROCs under our plans.
Where market costs are coming down – in onshore wind, for example – we’re consulting on reducing the subsidy.”

Research
Support of research into new technologies is key to being at the forefront of the market for being technology providers as well as simply providing cheap, green energy. The government has “allocated up to £30 million over the next four years to fund innovation to reduce offshore wind costs. We’ve also allocated up to £20 million to support the world’s first commercial-scale marine energy arrays.”

Finally Chris Huhne talked about measures to be taken to facilitate the development of this array of sustainable energy projects. “Over 1,000 pages of local planning policy for England are being replaced by clearer and more streamlined National Planning Policy Framework. And the Government will consult on measures for a ‘planning guarantee’.”

Speaking in response to the latest Government plans, Maria McCaffery, Chief Executive of RenewableUK, said:

“Any reduction in financial support will have an impact on the industry, reducing deployment, and potentially jeopardising momentum as we strive to reach our carbon reduction targets. However, we recognise the need to drive down costs across the sector, especially offshore.

Any changes need to be carefully balanced as the proposed onshore reduction would have a disproportionate impact on small community-based wind energy projects, as they don’t enjoy the economies of scale which larger projects can harness”.

The consultation on banding levels for Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs), announced by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, proposes lowering the amount of support which onshore wind generators will receive from 1 ROC per megawatt hour (MWh) to 0.9 of a ROC. For offshore wind, the support level would be reduced from 2 ROCs to 1.9 ROCs from April 2015, and to 1.8 ROCs in April 2016. Wave and tidal projects will receive 5 ROCs, with no overall cap.

Research by RenewableUK shows that this cut of 0.1 of a ROC for onshore wind could reduce deployment from 12 gigawatts (GW) to 10.4 GW by 2017.

The lost 1.6 GW could have provided electricity for nearly a million homes.

A reduction of 0.2 of a ROC for offshore wind in 2016 would make more projects in the ambitious Round 3 marginal. Developers are already seeking cost reductions to make them viable under the current 2 ROC banding.

Consumer bills are likely to remain unaffected by these changes. In the average annual domestic electricity annual bill of £5811, the total cost of the RO is just £20. Wind receives less than half of that £20 (or 1.8% of current consumer bills). By 2017, the RO will cost some £50 with the cost of supporting going up to around £30 a year or 60p per week, which would be the equivalent of 5.2% of electricity bills if other fossil fuels remain flat.

McCaffery added:

“We are determined to continue working with Government to ensure that the industry is operating as efficiently as possible by reducing our costs, not least through the Offshore Wind Cost reduction taskforce.

The measures to support Wave & Tidal energy are particularly welcome and will help build a domestic market big enough to drive innovation and lower cost. Onshore Wind is already the least expensive form of renewable energy on a mass scale and is currently providing the largest share of renewable electricity. These measures must not put its future deployment in doubt”

The Electricity Market Reform White Paper sets out measures to attract investment, reduce the impact on consumer bills, and create a mix of electricity sources including gas, new nuclear, renewable energy and carbon capture and storage.

The Renewables Roadmap published alongside this outlines a plan of action to accelerate renewable energy deployment to meet the target of 15% of all energy by 2020.

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne said:

“We have a Herculean task ahead of us. The scale of investment needed in our electricity system in order to keep the lights on is more than twice the rate of the last decade. The fact is that the current electricity market is not able to meet that challenge. Without action, there is a risk of uncomfortably low capacity margins from around the end of the decade and a far higher chance of costly blackouts.

“This package will keep the lights on and bills down. It will insure us against shocks from volatile parts of the world like Libya, and end the dithering about our need for new plant.

“We have consulted widely and we believe our reforms represent the best deal for Britain. They will get us off the hook of relying so heavily on imported fossil fuels by creating a greener, cleaner and potentially cheaper mix of electricity sources right here in the UK.

“A new generation of power sources including renewables, new nuclear, and carbon capture and storage, along with new gas plants to provide flexibility and back-up capacity, will secure our electricity supply as well as bring new jobs and new expertise to the UK economy.”

The reform includes putting in place a price on carbon, an emissions performance standard (EPS) of 450g CO2 / kWh and a ‘contract for difference’ feed in tariff for all forms of low carbon electricity generation.

The Renewables Roadmap sets out ambitions for a four fold increase in renewable energy consumption by the end of 2020. According to Chris Huhne this is why the Government is announcing up to £30m to support innovation in the production of components over the next four years.

Huhne has also asked a new task force to reduce the costs of offshore wind to £100/MWh by 2020. He believes this would allow its ambition of 18GW offshore wind energy capacity by 2020 to be met.

The full documents can be viewed on the Department for Energy and Climate Change website.

The primary aim of the Localism Bill is to devolve power to local councils, neighbourhoods and elected mayors.

The reforms include a new right of local people to challenge their local councils – to take over services, a new right to bid to buy local assets such as libraries, pubs and shops and a new right to veto excessive council tax rises through a referendum. Bin tax laws are to be repealed.

At the same time however, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced council budget reductions of around 10% telling authorities to share services or outsource.

Pickles said:

“The Localism Bill will herald a ground-breaking shift in power to councils and communities overturning decades of central government control and starting a new era of people power.

By getting out of the way and letting councils and communities run their own affairs we can restore civic pride, democratic accountability and economic growth – and build a stronger, fairer Britain. It’s the end of the era of big government: laying the foundations for the Big Society.”

As expected the Bill will replace the Infrastructure Planning Commission with a department reporting to the relevant Secretary of State. Regional planning is to be “swept away” and in its place neighbourhood plans are, according to the department “to become the new building blocks of the planning system where communities have the power to grant planning permission if a local majority are in favour“.

Trade association Renewable UK’s Director of Communications Charles Anglin said:

“There is no doubt that this Bill, once it becomes law, will dramatically alter the rules for developing renewable energy projects, and the industry will have to follow suit. We could be looking at a radically different planning process, with councillors allowed or even encouraged to campaign ahead of the decision, and the result in some cases being made by referendum. We will need to consult with communities ahead of logging an application and make sure that the economic and community benefits are clear.”

RenewableUK is according to Anglin waiting for clarity on the plans to involve neighbourhoods in the decision making, and details on how planning at neighbourhood level will integrate with council planning procedures. It has also stated that allowing councillors to campaign on planning issues must be balanced with the need to get a fair hearing. On proposals such as the abolition of regional spatial strategies the Association has stated that it is looking forward to engaging with Government to make sure that the localism agenda helps in reaching the UK’s renewable energy targets.

The Government has also published Decentralisation and the Localism Bill: an essential guide. Its sets out the six key actions central government will need to take alongside the changes in law proposed in the Bill.

According to Planning Magazine, Peter Village QC acting for housebuilder CALA accused the communities secretary of unlawfully ditching the plans and striking “at the heart of parliamentary democracy“.

Last month CALA homes launched the challenge against the Government’s decision to scrap regional plans. The scrapping of the plans has been unpopular with groups as diverse as the RSPB, Council for the Protection of Rural England and the Home Builders Federation who believe regional planning is essential to delivering national objectives relating to both conservation and development.

The challenge however does not relate to the principle of scrapping the plans, or localism – rather the procedure (or lack of) Pickles has followed to implement his actions. Pickles argued that by making the move ahead of the Decentralisation and Localism Bill, he was acting to avoid uncertainty and inconsistent decision making by local councils.

David Kerfoot – a partner in the planning, environmental and renewable energy team at North West law firm Aaron & Partners LLP claims unanswered questions must be addressed in the proposed Decentralisation and Localism Bill, due to be published by the end of the year.

“Renewable energy projects can cause significant and often disproportionate local concern”, said Mr Kerfoot.

“It remains to be seen how the need to meet targets will be reconciled with the fact that many local communities don’t want a windfarm or biomass plant in their back yard.”

Mr Kerfoot believes the localism bill could lead to the most significant change to the planning system since the Town and Country Planning Act of 1947. He urged the coalition to “think carefully” about the short and long term effects of the proposed changes, adding:

“Creating a new and uncertain system that had the effect, however unintentionally, of slowing down the planning process even further would be disastrous – particularly in the current economic climate. All we keep hearing is that local needs will be addressed, but how do we ensure that this concept of ‘localism’ is not manipulated by the organised, vocal minority?”

His comments come at a time of intense speculation regarding the contents of the bill. Recent reports in the national media have claimed that a third-party right of appeal against successful planning applications will be left out.

Speaking during a House of Commons debate, Mr Miliband criticised the coalition government saying that their renewables policy doesn’t yet add up because they have Lib Dem targets with Conservative planning policy. He also said their nuclear policy doesn’t add up because they have three positions.

On economic growth, Miliband believes that short term cuts will “deny us the long term economic strength we need“. “In the months ahead we will be holding them to account to deliver, because it is in everyone in this country’s interests that we deliver on fairness on energy security and on climate change” said Miliband.

A report ‘UK Energy and the Environment’ published this week by independent company Cambridge Econometrics found that based on current policies, the UK is set to hit 6% of renewable energy by 2020 rather than the 15% target.

Many in the renewable energy industry are concerned that the new coalition planning bill risks weakening renewable energy policies and making renewable energy infrastructure unaffordable in many locations. If all the proposed measures are introduced the bill is likely to bring new projects to a grinding halt in many parts of the UK. The Coalition government to date have no strategic plan to reach their challenging renewable energy commitments beyond hoping that local authorities will all contribute fairly.