Wind Energy Planning

The UK wind energy sector, householders and community groups have welcomed new fixed electricity payment tariffs for small scale renewable energy technologies announced today.  The UK government is set to put in place the ‘feed in’ tariffs for electricity produced by renewable energy projects of up to 5 Megawatts (MW) capacity.

From 1st April this year people and companies who install renewable energy generators of 5 MW or under will receive the guaranteed payments for each kWh of green electricity they produce.

Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said:

“The guarantee of getting an income on top of saving on energy bills will be an incentive to householders and communities wanting to make the move to low carbon living.

“The feed-in tariff will change the way householders and communities think about their future energy needs, making the payback for investment far shorter than in the past.

“It will also change the outlook for a range of industries, in particular those in the business of producing and installing small scale low carbon technology.”

The Government believes that the power from a solar panel could earn £900 in addition to a £140 reduction on a householders energy bill.

The new rates (per kWh) for some technologies are set out below.  The full list is on the DECC website:

Anaerobic digestion (under 500kW), Years 1-3, 11.5 pence

Anaerobic digestion (above 500kW), Years 1-3, 9 pence

PV (under 4kW – new build), Years 1-2, 36.1 pence reducing to 33 p in Year 3

PV (under 4kW retrofit), Years 1-2, 41.3 pence reducing to 37.8p in Year 3

PV (between 4-10kW), Years 1-2, 36.2 pence reducing to 33p in year 3

PV (between 10kW and 100kW), Years 1-2, 31.4 pence reducing to 28.7p in Year 3

PV (between 100kW and 5MW), Years 1-2, 29.3 pence, reducing to 26.8p in year 3

Wind (under 1.5kW), Years 1-2, 34.5 pence, reducing to 32.6p in Year 3

Wind (1.5 – 15kW), Years 1-2, 26.7 pence, reducing to 25.5p in Year 3

Wind (15-100kW), Years 1-2, 24.2 pence, reducing to 23 p in Year 3

Wind (100-500kW), Years 1-3, 18.8 pence

Wind (500-1.5MW), Years 1-3, 9.4 pence

Wind (1.5MW – 5MW), Years 1-3, 4.5 pence

The tariff lifetime for each technology varies but is generally 20 or 25 years.

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) hailed the announcement as a “further step in the green energy revolution, changing the way electricity is generated and used in Britain”.  BWEA say the UK is the world’s second biggest small wind market, equating to 25% of global demand.

DECC also published today scheme plans to incentivise renewable heat generation at all scales. However this will not come into effect until April 2011.   Guaranteed payments would be made to those who install  ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers.

The heat incentive could help thousands of consumers who are off the mains gas supply lower their fuel bills and gain a cash reward for cleaning up their heating supply.