In response to a number of UK solar companies taking legal action against Feed in Tariff (FiT) cuts, Peter Searancke, managing director of Leicester-based renewable energy specialists, Intelligent Energy Solutions comments…
“The revised FiT (reduced from 43p to 21p per kWh) will not be as damaging as some predict, as a great return on investment of up to 10% per annum will still be available. However, the manner in which the UK Government has opted to proceed is unnecessarily destructive to our nascent solar industry.
“It is wholly unreasonable for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to impose a deadline for the reduced rates to apply that falls before the consultation period on the proposed changes ends. The DECC should have acted sooner on this decision with a more subtle adjustment and it is the resulting uncertainty that makes it difficult for small businesses to invest in the resources or staff needed to support development in the renewables sector. In addition, confidence within the industry, across businesses, trade associations and consumers, is not able to grow organically and results in limited development of a service which is hugely beneficial to UK consumers and the environment as a whole.”
