Site Root

Resource: Renewable Energy - Resources

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:50:00 GMT

Resource Page: DECC take the solar FIT case to the Supreme Court

Jeanine Willoughby — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:50:00 GMT

Green wise reported yesterday that Chris Huhne has confirmed he plans to contest a decision by the Court of Appeal preventing him from carrying out controversial plans to cut the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) for solar electricity.

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change confirmed he would be seeking permission to appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.

In statement issued a few hours after the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court ruling that the Government’s plan to slash the solar FiT was unlawful, he said: "The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court ruling on FiTs albeit on different grounds. We disagree and are seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court."

Fit cuts delayed

The Court of Appeal decision means the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) cannot go through with its original plan to cut to the FiT – from 43 pence to 21 pence for solar installations up to four kilowatt in size – until March 3 2012. Ministers at DECC had put forward plans to cut the tariff from December 12 2011, saying early decisive action was required to safeguard the FiT budget. The proposals were ruled unlawful by the High Court in December, and this morning, the High Court ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

DECC did not set out the Government’s grounds for a further appeal, but Huhne said: "We want to maximise the number of installations that are possible within the available budget rather than use available money to pay a higher tariff to half the number of installations. Solar PV can have strong and vibrant future in UK and we want a lasting FITs scheme to support that future and jobs in the industry."

But those who brought the High Court case against the Government warned a further appeal would only lead to more uncertainty for the solar industry, as well as waste time and public money.

"This landmark judgement confirms that devastating Government plans to rush through cuts to solar payments are illegal – and will prevent Ministers from causing industry chaos with similar cuts in future," said Andy Atkins, executive director at Friends of Earth, , which – along with solar firms Solarcentury and Homesun – won the High Court case against the Government in December. "The Government must now take steps to safeguard the UK’s solar industry and the 29,000 jobs still facing the chop."

Business reaction

The business community also urged the Government to use the decision to "draw a line" under the FiT case.

"The judgement should be used to draw a line under this saga, which saw the Government scoring a spectacular own goal and confidence in the renewables sector undermined," John Cridland, CBI director-general, said. "We must bring certainty back to this high growth sector."

Howard Johns, chairman of the Solar Trade Association, added: "The Government’s appeal against the original ruling has created huge uncertainty for the thousands of small businesses in the sector, and we sincerely hope that the Government chooses not to take this further by appealing against this result."

Resource Page: Government loses solar appeal

kate gilmartin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:08:00 GMT

Business Green has just reported that the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has lost its appeal against a High Court ruling which branded its plans to rush through cuts to solar subsidies as illegal.

Three Court of Appeal Judges this morning upheld the original decision that the government had acted unlawfully in proposing cuts to feed-in tariffs for solar installations completed after December 12 last year, on the grounds the consultation on the proposed changes to the scheme did not close until December 23.

The ruling was celebrated by the solar industry, which has consistently argued that ministers should not be allowed to impose "retrospective" changes to the feed-in tariff incentive scheme.

"Four Judges, including three in The Court of Appeal, have now called the Government's actions illegal," said Daniel Green, chief executive at Homesun, one of the company's behind the legal action. "That's a four-nil victory and a decisive ruling that government may not make retrospective changes to the FIT because, as Lord Justice Moses concludes, to do so 'would be to take away an existing entitlement without statutory authority'."

His comments were echoed by Jeremy Leggett, chairman of Solarcentury, who writing on Twitter urged the government to now accept the ruling and work to build "a counter-austerity industry in solar".

The ruling means that the government will now have to pick up the costs of the organisations that brought the original legal action.

However, a DECC spokeswoman said the government was still "considering our options" in the wake of the ruling, prompting speculation the government could seek to lodge a second appeal with the Supreme Court.

Reports that the government could yet seek to appeal again to the Supreme Court prompted an angry reaction from solar industry campaigners.

Writing on Twitter Seb Berry of Solarcentury said: "Appeal Court rejected DECCs application to appeal to the Supreme Ct. DECC can still apply directly but on what possible grounds?"

Others have suggested that the government may consider an appeal in order to ensure demand for new solar installations remains low in the run up to March 3 – the new cut off date for the higher rate of feed-in tariff incentives.

If the government does not appeal against today's court ruling the level of incentives available for installations completed before March 3 will be confirmed at 43p/kWh. Ministers are concerned that the ruling could spark a month long gold rush as households and businesses rush to take advantage of the higher rate, eating further into a feed-in tariff budget that has already been exceeded for this year.

In contrast, the continued uncertainty caused by a further appeal would stop solar firms advertising that the current feed-in tariff rate is set at 43p/kWh, potentially dampening demand until the incentives are halved on March 3.

The ruling should also pave the way for the release of the government's long-awaited full review of the feed-in tariff scheme, which has been promised for early next month and is expected to map out how ministers plan to cut incentives in future.

Andy Atkins, executive director of Friends of the Earth, which was also involved in the legal action, urged the government to now reform the scheme, increasing the spending cap to allow for the continued expansion of the solar sector.

"This landmark judgement confirms that devastating Government plans to rush through cuts to solar payments are illegal - and will prevent Ministers from causing industry chaos with similar cuts in future," he said.

"The Government must now take steps to safeguard the UK's solar industry and the 29,000 jobs still facing the chop. Ministers must abandon plans to tighten the screw on which homes qualify for solar payments - and use the massive tax revenues generated by solar to protect the industry."

Forum Post: Shorts talks on Energy research projects 7th & 8th February

Neil Lowrie — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:22:00 GMT

PhD students undertaking interdisciplinary energy research will present the results of their first mini-project. Presentations take place over two days and you are welcome to attend all or part of each day.

A summary of talks is listed below. The full agenda is available on our website

7th February: Photovoltaics, Lighting,Fuel Cells, CCS, Biomass & biofuels

8th February: Energy in the built environment, socio-economic issues, fusion, transport

Venue: University of Sheffield, Elmfield Building, Northumberland Road, Lecture Theatre 1

Places are limited so if interest, please let me know.

Resource Page: Wave Power - Ecotricity plan 200 systems off the UK coast

James Robinson — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:29:00 GMT

Green energy company Ecotricity has today (January 23) unveiled plans to install 200 wave power devices off the UK coast as it looks to grow its portfolio of wind and tidal technologies.

The Searaser device, which pumps pressurised seawater into an onshore turbine to turn wave power into renewable electricity, is anticipated to produce renewable energy at a significantly lower cost than other renewable technologies.

According to Ecotricity, the 240kW pump has the capacity to create electricity at a cost of just 2p per Kwh and is a cheaper alternative to nuclear power, which costs about 10p kWh. It also claims the devices will address two major barriers to the deployment of renewable energy in the UK - cost and variable output.

Ecotricity founder Dale Vince said that Ecotricity's investment will drive the next phase of Searasers' development and he anticipates the Searasers will be deployed around the British coastline within five years.

He added: "Our vision is for Britain's electricity needs to be met entirely from the big three renewable energy sources - the wind, the sun and the sea.

"Until now, the sea has been the least viable of those three energy sources and we believe that Searaser will change all of that. Indeed we believe Searaser has the potential to produce electricity at a lower cost than any other type energy, not just other forms of renewable energy but all 'conventional' forms of energy too."

Developed by Devon engineer Alvin Smith, Searaser harnesses the power of ocean swells to create electricity. Mr Smith said that the device tackles a major main barrier to making wave-power efficient and cost-effective is the resilience against the hostile ocean environment.

He added: "Most existing wave technologies seek to generate electricity in the sea itself. But as we know water and electricity don't mix - and seawater is particularly corrosive - so most other devices are very expensive to manufacture and maintain.

"But Searaser doesn't generate the electricity out at sea. It simply uses the motion of the ocean swell to pump seawater through an onshore generator."

The announcement also coincides with plans, set to be released tomorrow (January 24), by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to turn the South West of England into silicon valley of Marine Energy technology.

Energy and climate change minister Greg Barker, said: "Marine Energy is a real priority for the coalition government.

"It's great news that Ecotricity are now making waves in marine power with their plans for Searaser. The UK leads the world in developing marine energy technology and it's vital that the sector continues to bring forward innovative new technologies.

"Marine energy is becoming an increasingly attractive investment for businesses, not least because we are proposing more than a doubling of financial support to the sector through the ROCs scheme."

Article taken from EDIE - click here for original article.

Resource Page: Government to confirm back-up plan to cut solar incentives from early March

kate gilmartin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:22:00 GMT

According to Business Green, the government will this afternoon confirm its contingency plan should it lose its high-profile court battle to uphold proposed cuts to incentives for solar installations completed after December 12 last year.

According to industry reports, the statement is expected to confirm that if the government loses its appeal against the court ruling that branded its proposed cuts to incentives as unlawful, it will cut feed-in tariffs for installations with under 4kW of capacity to 21p per kWh within 40 days, setting a new cut-off date of March 3. It is also expected to confirm that should the government win its appeal it will not cut incentives for installations completed after December 12 last year below the proposed level of 21p per kWh.

The statement will provide some much-needed certainty to the solar market, providing official confirmation that the level of support for current installations will not fall below 21p per kWh regardless of the outcome of the government's appeal. The statement is expected to only confirm rates through to the end of March, meaning that the government could attempt to impose deeper cuts to the level of subsidy from April if, as feared, the scheme remains on track to exceed its spending cap. However, industry watchers suggested that with the government required to consult again on any further changes to the scheme post April it is unlikely that additional cuts to incentives could be imposed before early summer.

The move follows intense lobbying from solar firms angry about the uncertainty over the current level of support for new installations. It also comes in response to calls from Friends of the Earth for the government to table legislation enabling it to cut feed-in tariffs as soon as possible should it lose the court case and be forced to reinstate the 43p per kWh incentive rate. All sides in the debate on the future of feed-in tariffs are concerned about the potential impact on the scheme's budget of a return to the 43p per kWh rate that could result in a surge in new installations. Although supporters of the legal action taken against the government maintain they were right to bring the case given that otherwise ministers would have set a precedent allowing them to retrospectively impose cuts to incentives.

The judges currently deliberating whether or not to hear the government's appeal are thought to be unlikely to reach a decision this week, meaning that even if they reject the government's case there will only be a limited period when the higher rate of incentives is reinstated. A spokeswoman for Friends of the Earth welcomed news of the statement, arguing that it provides some "much-needed certainty for the solar market". "The next step is to now try and get a budget for the scheme that will allow that certainty and stability to continue in the future," she added.

Forum Post: Re: Hydrogen cell cars move to fast lane

stephen.brown@co2sense.co.uk — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:15:00 GMT

nds.coi.gov.uk/.../detail.aspx

More on the governemnt infromation website, if you've not got access to FT articles.

Document: IET Seminar slides

stephen.brown@co2sense.co.uk — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:08:00 GMT

These are the slide from a semiar I gave to the local branch of the Instiute of Engineering and Technology. Please feel free to downlad them. If you have any questions, please get in touch.

Steve

Resource Page: Date set for DECC's appeal!

kate gilmartin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:16:00 GMT

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) have stated that the DECC permission hearing, for their appeal against the solar PV feed in tariff verdict, will be Friday13th January. This will be followed by the full hearing, if permitted, the same day. The findings won't be announced until the following week. Therefore DECC hope that by the end of January all will be clear, but there are no guarantees of the timing as the process could result in a further appeal to the Supreme Court by whichever side that loses.

Once the result of the Appeal is known and if DECC win, they intend to publish their response to the consultation on or around the 30th Jan (they can’t do it before) along with the Phase 2 Comprehensive review. However, they made clear that the proposals in the Phase 2 consultation depend on what the result of the Judicial Review is and the amount of PV that has been installed since 12^th December. Unfortunately the REA were unable to get reassurance that other technologies will definitely not be affected.

If DECC lose, they may appeal to the Supreme Court, a process for which it is difficult to forecast a timescale. The REA state that this will be a test case around the consultation process on secondary legislation, which has far wider implications across the whole of Government and therefore means there will be much wider considerations for Government in choosing to pursue this beyond the solar issue. This could mean that even if DECC wanted to drop the case, concern over the rulings impact on other Government policy may prevent them from doing so.

REA Chief Executive Gaynor Hartnell has written to Secretary of State Chris Huhne requesting an urgent meeting and seeking reassurances that the legal dispute will not be allowed to affect the future of the FIT scheme, for all technologies. They state that they are well aware of the needs of other FIT technologies, as well as implications for the RO budget and have publicly criticised DECC for failing to prevent pot depletion by one technology. The REA have suggested pulling FITs into general taxation to help resolve these concerns, where Treasury revenues appear to exceed scheme costs.

The Judicial Review has raised the stakes, as a return to 43p kWh tariff could see another rapid rise in deployment. DECC is not ruling out any options, should it lose the appeal. Whilst Minister Barker is keen to see the scheme continue for solar, in an interview with Business Green yesterday he confirmed that the budget had been exceeded for 2011/12 and believes this will also be the case for 2012//13. Therefore reducing the tariff for all PV systems installed post 1st April 2012 to 9p kWh remains a possibility. DECC Officials were keen to stress that this is not their preferred outcome, but all options remain under consideration.

So far the majority of solar companies that contacted the REA stated that whilst they believe setting a reference date before the end of the consultation was deplorable, they could make the 21p work and that their key concern was to focus on the long term future of the industry.

Decc has now said that following confirmation that there will be a hearing of its appeal against the JR finding, it can now state the following regarding tariffs - which should help to reduce the uncertainty:

“The tariff rate for PV installations less than or equal to 4kW will not fall below 21p for installations with an eligibility date between 12th December 2011 and 31st March 2012.”

Resource Page: DECC appeals against High Court solar feed-in tariff ruling

kate gilmartin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:45:00 GMT

Business Green reported that the government, on Wednesday afternoon, filed a request to appeal against a High Court ruling that branded its plans to rush through cuts to solar feed-in tariffs as unlawful, despite concerns the continuation of legal proceedings will prolong investor uncertainty.

DECC hopes permission to appeal would be granted as soon as possible to provide clarity for consumers and industry on the future of feed-in tariffs and the recently closed consultation.

Writing on Twitter, climate minister Greg Barker said the timing of the appeal was up to the court, but he expressed hope that the long-running legal battle would be resolved "well before the end of the month".

Mr Justice Mitting ruled on 21^st December that it would be unlawful for the government to effectively cut feed-in tariff rates for installations completed on or after 12 December, as proposed in the government's consultation, on the grounds that the changes pre-empted the close date for the consultation.

He also rejected an immediate appeal request from DECC's lawyer, warning that any appeal would have limited chances of success.

However, he set a deadline of 4 January for DECC to seek permission to appeal from the Court of Appeal, in a bid to ensure that any hearing could take place as soon as possible when the court's term begins on 11 January.

DECC met that deadline and outlined its grounds for appeal in a move designed to help speed up the legal process.

"The High Court's decision was based on the view that the proposed approach to implementing new tariffs for solar PV is inconsistent with the FIT scheme's statutory purpose of encouraging small-scale low-carbon electricity generation. We disagree with this for a number of reasons," DECC said in a statement.

"The overriding aim of the proposed reduction in tariffs for solar PV (as set out in the recent consultation) is to ensure that over the long term as many people as possible are encouraged to install small-scale low-carbon generation (including other technologies as well as solar PV) and benefit from the funding available for the FIT scheme."

DECC has consistently warned that delaying the proposed cuts to incentives could result in the feed-in tariff scheme exceeding its spending cap – a scenario that some solar industry insiders fear will result in deeper cuts to incentives from April.

A spokeswoman for the department added that it would also be appealing on the grounds that the "judicial review was premature as no decision has yet been taken, and a decision will only be taken after a full analysis of the responses to the consultation".

The appeal has been attacked by a number of green groups that fear the on-going legal battle means it remains unclear whether current levels of feed-in tariffs will continue and when cuts to the level of incentives will be imposed.

Friends of the Earth, one of a number of parties that took legal action against the government plans, warned the government it risked wasting public funds by continuing legal proceedings.

"The government's illegal cuts to solar tariff rates have near-crippled an industry and threatened thousands of jobs," said Friends of the Earth's head of campaigns, Andrew Pendleton.

"Trying to appeal the High Court's ruling is an expensive waste of taxpayer money – the court says the government has no realistic chance of winning, and it will prolong uncertainty among solar companies just when they need reassurance.

"Ministers should accept the High Court's decision and end business uncertainty and protect jobs with a clear plan to reduce payments from February, in line with falling installation costs."

However, the latest development came as a number of solar industry blogs revealed that government fears the feed-in tariff scheme will exceed its budget could prove well founded.

Solar industry campaigners have repeatedly argued that the spending cap may need to be relaxed, insisting that a well-managed increase in the budget will only result in a modest rise in energy bills.

Meanwhile, shadow energy and climate change secretary Caroline Flint called on the government to "go back to the drawing board and bring forward more measured proposals that guarantee the continued growth of the solar industry".

"The government's reckless cuts to the feed-in tariff have thrown the solar industry into disarray, putting thousands of jobs and businesses at risk, and hitting families trying to do the right thing and cut their energy bills," she said

"What the industry needs – and what the public deserves – is certainty about the future of solar power, yet by appealing against the ruling the government is creating even more uncertainty."

Forum Post: Why Waste Christmas Newsletter

Emma Hill — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:56:00 GMT

Hi All

Please follow the link below to access the latest Why Waste newsletter. Why Waste is the regions online business waste exchange.

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs017/1102502724586/archive/1108958053431.html

If anyone has any waste offers or requests or relevant news for the next newsletter please get in touch.

Yours

Emma Hill

Resource: Help - Resources

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:11:00 GMT

Resource Page: More renewable projects needed in the UK - according to new European statistics

James Robinson — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:29:00 GMT

According to Click Green, the UK is third-bottom of the European renewable energy league, published on Monday. CO2Sense can support renewable projects through investment, advice, and technical consultancy. If you have a renewable project or would like to know more, please contact us to discuss your options.

The article reports that the share of renewable energy in the UK's final energy consumption was just 3.3%, slightly ahead of only two other of the European Union's 27 member states, Malta and Luxembourg.

The report also reveals that out of all the European nations, the UK has the biggest gap to bridge to achieve the legally binding 2020 target of sourcing 15% of the country's energy mix from renewables.

The UK needs to increase its energy share from renewables by 11.7% over the next 9 years.

Sweden topped the league with 46.9% of the national energy mix sourced from renewable technology, followed by Latvia (34.3%), Finland (33.6%), Austria (30.7%) and Portugal (24.7%).

The European Commission statistics were revealed today as part of the EurObserv'ER project.

The figures show that across Europe the renewable energy share accounts for 12.4% of overall gross final energy consumption, compared to 11.5% in 2009 - a 0.9 point year-on-year increase compared to 2009.

The increase is related to a bigger gross consumption of final energy from renewable sources, 145 Mtoe (against 131,6 Mtoe in 2009) for a gross final energy consumption of 1170.7 Mtoe (against 1146.3 Mtoe in 2009).

According to today's report, gross consumption of final energy from renewable sources increased by 10.2% (+ 13.4 Mtoe), as against a 2.1% increase (+24.4 Mtoe) of the overall gross final energy consumption.

Renewable energy share in electricity consumption was 19.8% in 2010, compared to 18.2% in 2009 and the renewable energy share of domestic energy consumption was 9.9% in 2010, compared to 9.1% in 2009.

The full article can be found here.

The report states that EU nations need to produce an extra hundred Mtoe of final energy from renewable sources to achieve the overall 2020 target of renewable energies in EU-27 final energy gross consumption, which equates to an extra annual average of 10 Mtoe of final energy from renewable sources.

Resource: Woodfuel - Resources

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:49:00 GMT

Resource Page: 3/1/12 Minister approves £120m waste wood biomass plant

Mark Gregory — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:49:00 GMT

from LetsRecycle.com

Energy minister Charles Hendry today gave the go-ahead to developer Dalkia to build a £120 million wood waste-burning biomass plant in Yorkshire.

The plant will be located on a site of the former RAF airfield at Pollington near Leeds and will burn 360,000 tonne of waste wood a year and produce 53MW of electricity. It is the second large-scale Dalkia biomass plant to receive planning approval in the UK, in addition to the company’s biomass plant in Chilton, County Durham, which became operational in October 2011

Dalkia is the sister company of waste management company Veolia Environmental Services, meaning that some of the feedstock for the plant will come from Veolia as well as Dalkia’s existing supply networks. A spokesman for the company told letsrecycle.com that all feedstock would be locally sourced.

Waste wood will be delivered to the site via the nearby Aire and Calder Navigation Canal, meaning that road traffic movements will be kept to a minimum. It will then be processed into pellets at a facility already in operation at the site before being used in the biomass plant. The plant will create around 200 jobs during construction and 135 during operation.

The approval for the plant means that the number of new power stations given consent in England and Wales this year has reached fifteen, the highest ever since the Electricity Act came into force in 1989.

Charles Hendry, Minister of State for Energy, said: “When it comes to big new power station projects, investors and communities need certainty. I am delighted that this project marks a new record for granting consent decisions.

“It has been a priority for this administration to remove the backlog in planning applications, to demonstrate our commitment to economic growth. A record number of decisions shows that we have delivered on this, helping ensure our long-term energy security and creating jobs.

“This new waste wood plant in Yorkshire will not only enhance our energy security and reduce waste wood to landfill; it will create an estimated 200 construction and 135 operational jobs and give a real boost to the local economy.”

Work on the Pollington biomass plant will begin soon and it is expected to take three years to build. It is one of a number of biomass plants which Dalkia is hoping to develop over the next few years across the UK

Resource Page: January 2012 news

Mark Gregory — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:45:00 GMT

woodfuel news

Resource Page: news items 2012

Mark Gregory — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:42:00 GMT

woodfuel news

Resource Page: Court rules in favour of solar firms, throwing government feed-in tariff plans into chaos

kate gilmartin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:13:00 GMT

Business Green reported that the High Court yesterday upheld a legal challenge from Friends of the Earth and two solar firms against the government's controversial decision to slash feed-in tariff incentives for solar installations, throwing the proposed changes to the subsidy scheme into chaos.

The Court ruled the government had breached rules governing consultation exercises, when it announced that proposed cuts to feed-in tariff incentives would impact installations

Mr Justice Mitting said ministers were "proposing to make an unlawful decision" and as a result the court would be "amenable to a judicial review".

He also noted that the consultation has already had a "significant impact" on the industry in the form of projects being scrapped.

The ruling paves the way for a judicial review that could force the government to relaunch the consultation, significantly delaying when the proposed incentives to cuts will come into effect.

The judge rejected an immediate request for an appeal from DECC on the grounds it would create further uncertainty. However, DECC lawyers said they could make another application to appeal by the 4th of January next year.

Climate Minister Greg Barker later issued a statement confirming the government would seek an appeal. "We disagree with the Court's decision," he said. "We will be seeking an appeal and hope to secure a hearing as soon as possible. Regardless of today's outcome, the current high tariffs for solar PV are not sustainable and changes need to be made in order to protect the budget which is funded by consumers through their energy bills."

The decision will be hailed as a major victory by the solar industry, after firms warned that the scale and pace of the proposed cuts would have a crippling effect on the sector resulting in thousands of job losses.

It is also likely to be welcomed by the CBI and the Local Government Association, both of which criticised the government cuts.

However, DECC has consistently warned that delaying the proposed cuts to incentives could result in the feed-in tariff scheme exceeding its spending cap - a scenario that some solar industry insiders fear will result in deeper cuts to incentives in the future.

Jeremy Leggett, chairman of Solarcentury, which launched the legal action alongside HomeSun and Friends of the Earth, urged the government to now work with the solar industry to reduce incentives in a controlled manner.

"The Court has stopped Government abusing its power but it doesn't make up for the fact that DECC has created chaos for the renewable energy industry as a whole, and not just solar," he said in a statement.

"Solarcentury was very reluctant to take this legal challenge but DECC gave us no choice. All of this could have been avoided if DECC had done a proper consultation last summer, as they promised, and engaged constructively with the solar industry. I do hope that DECC will now engage properly with the industry, so that together we can build a viable solar industry in the UK, as they have in Germany."

His comments were echoed by Andy Atkins of Friends of the Earth who said: "These botched and illegal plans have cast a huge shadow over the solar industry, jeopardising thousands of jobs. Solar payments should fall in line with falling installation costs but the speed of the government's proposals threatened to devastate the entire industry."

However, it remains unclear how the government will proceed following the ruling.

The consultation exercise will remain open until the end of the week as had been initially planned, but assuming it does not win its appeal the government's response, which is expected in mid-January, is now likely to be informed by the threat of further legal action if it imposes cuts on installations completed after December 12 as originally proposed.

Lawyers for Friends of the Earth said that the judge’s ruling had effectively quashed the December 12 cut off date for installations to enjoy the current higher rate of feed-in tariffs. They predicted that under consultation rules the earliest DECC could impose a new cut off date would be mid-February.

However, any delay to the proposed cuts will fuel concerns that the scheme could again experience a gold rush that eats into its available budget.

Gaynor Hartnell of the Renewable Energy Association (REA) warned that the ruling could end up doing long term damage to the solar sector.

"Whilst no-one in the renewables industry was comfortable with the manner in which the latest PV tariff review was carried out, the implications of this decision could be very bad for those technologies benefitting from the feed in tariff," she said in a statement. "If the tariffs do get reinstated, the rush that we'd seen before 12th December will presumably resume... This may put the longer-term future of the small-scale feed in tariff in jeopardy, when what we need most is clarity stability."

DECC was unable to comment further at the time of going to press.

Resource Page: Record breaking Scottish renewable energy investment

James Robinson — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:54:00 GMT

The Scottish Government has hailed 2011 as both 'ground breaking' and 'momentous' for the nation's renewable energy industry.

The year to October saw what Scottish energy minister, Fergus Ewing, also hailed as a 'record breaking' £750m of investment in renewable energy in Scotland. Mr Ewing also pointed out there is a pipeline of proposed projects with 17GW of generating capacity worth an estimated £46bn.

There are currently 7GW of renewable projects operational, under construction or consented. The Scottish Government's target is to meet the equivalent of 100% of gross annual electricity demand from renewables by 2020, in 2009 27.4% of Scotland's gross electricity demand was met from renewables.

In the second quarter of 2011, UK hydro generation increased by 74% on the equivalent quarter of 2010. Given that Scotland has over 90% of the UK's hydro output the vast majority of the increase will be in Scotland.

UK onshore wind generation increased by 111% on the equivalent quarter of 2010. Scotland has approximately 48% of the UK's wind output. There is approximately 4500 megawatts of renewables capacity in operation in Scotland. It is estimated Scotland has enough capacity operational and in the planning system to meet up to three quarters of its electricity demand.

Mr Ewing, said: "2011 has been an exceptional year for renewable energy in Scotland - truly the best year yet - and I am proud to be energy minister at such an exciting time. "We have seen momentous progress towards our goal of generating the equivalent of 100% of Scotland's electricity needs from renewables by 2020, as well as electricity generation from other energy technologies. "But most importantly we have taken real steps to ensure that communities all over Scotland will benefit from the renewable energy generated in their area, with a community benefit register which will help empower communities, as well as loans projects to help them develop renewable energy projects of their own."

This article has been taken from EDIE - http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?src=dnl&id=21545

Resource Page: 28/11/11 Renewable Heat Incentive comes into force

Mark Gregory — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:14:00 GMT

The Department of Energy and Clmate Change (DECC) has issued this statement regarding the Renewable Heat Incentive:

'I am pleased to inform you that the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for industrial, commercial, public sector and not-for-profit and community installations will open its doors for applications from Monday 28 November 2011. This follows the successful passage of the revised RHI Regulations through Parliament this week.

The start of the scheme follows a short delay from the planned 30 September launch date while we resolved the scheme's compatibility with EU state aid rules. Approval of the scheme by the European Commission was given on the condition that the large biomass tariff was reduced from 2.7p per kWh to 1p per kWh. In order to minimise the impact of this condition we decided to implement the Commission's decision and redraft the Regulations, which then had to be submitted for Parliamentary approval.

If you are interested in applying for support under the scheme you will need to contact Ofgem who are responsible for administering the scheme. More information about how to apply, as well as detailed Guidance documents to support you through this process, is available on their website at www.ofgem.gov.uk/rhi. Alternatively you can contact their enquiries centre on 0845 200 2122 or by email to RHI.Enquiry@ofgem.gov.uk.

Further information about the policy underpinning the scheme can be found on our website at www.decc.gov.uk/rhi. '

If you are interested in the opportunities available for householders, the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme is already up and running. This scheme provides money off renewable heat technologies for householders. Vouchers are still available - householders have until 31st March next year to apply. Please contact the Energy Saving Trust (EST) if you are interested in applying for support under this scheme on 0800 512 012 or by visiting their website at www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/rhpp.

There will also be support for householders under the second phase of the RHI, the timing of which will be confirmed early in the new year. The Government remains absolutely committed to driving the renewable heat agenda not just in the industrial, business and public sector, but in the domestic sector as well.