This is expected to be published shortly. As today's document acknowledges, this introduces uncertainty and delay for investors in solar power, with changes to support expected in April 2013. The STA [2] is keen to work with Government to look closely at utility-scale solar, which is a completely different type of market to the domestic sector. Today's announcement gives just eight months of forward certainty for RO solar, so deployment is set to slow.
The STAs PV specialist Ray Noble said: We want to establish a Taskforce to resolve issues for non-domestic solar as quickly as possible. Government wants us to deliver 22GW of solar by 2020, so the industry must be given time to establish itself and invest for growth.
At 2 ROCs, non-domestic solar is already competitive with other renewable technologies supported under the RO. However, the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme has a much smaller budget than the RO. The effect of excluding sub 5MW solar from the RO altogether next year would therefore greatly limit support for solar despite it being a cost-effective technology.
Larger-scale solar already requires less support than the levels the nuclear power industry is reported to be seeking in 2020. At the larger scale it receives the same support as offshore wind and anaerobic digestion, but costs are set to fall more rapidly. Around 500MW of solar was expected this year under the RO. Costs are continuing to fall, but the UK solar industry has been subject to extensive upheaval. The STA considers it vital that investor confidence is retained for solar supported under the RO.
STA Chief Executive Paul Barwell said: We understand that the RO is an inflexible mechanism for a technology as dynamic as solar, but proposing to exclude solar altogether sub 5MW from the RO is not the solution. Unless the FIT budget cap is greatly increased, this will mean unfairly constraining a cost-effective technology. This is not in the interests of public value for money so it is a potentially self-defeating proposal.
The announcement today of changes to support levels from April 2013 will delay the implementation of solar projects under the RO. Given the recent upheavals of the UK solar industry under FITs, it was appropriate for the non-domestic solar sector to be given a period of stability to establish itself. We are keen to work with DECC to ensure that we can safeguard investor confidence, while addressing legitimate issues, as quickly as possible.
