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Feed-in Tariffs Launch New Era for "Home Grown" Green Electricity

Wednesday 31 March 2010

  • Today's launch of feed-in tariffs will enable homes and businesses to generate income from producing their own renewable electricity and selling the surplus to the national grid
  • Additional funding announcement for small turbine test facilities provides timely boosts to world leading UK small wind industry

RenewableUK, the UK's leading renewable energy association, has today welcomed the launch of the feed-in tariff (otherwise known as Green Energy Cashbacks) which will transform the way homes and businesses meet their energy requirements.

Commenting on the announcement, Maria McCaffery MBE, CEO of RenewableUK said:

"The Feed-in Tariff will empower every household, farmstead and business in Britain to earn money by producing clean, green and renewable energy for their own needs and selling any surplus to the grid. This is nothing short of a revolution in the way electricity is generated and sold, which will also stimulate the growth of the new UK renewables industry and the creation of local jobs, and drive widespread behavioural change toward energy use and generation."

The feed-in tariff will provide fixed rewards, of up to 41.3p, for every unit of electricity generated from eligible technologies such as small wind turbines, solar PV panels, and micro-hydro products for the defined lifetime of the installation. All electricity sold to the national grid will also be able to access a extra 3p for every exported unit. The economics of installing small scale renewable technology will be transformed and is predicted to stimulate a surge of interest nation wide. For example well sited small wind turbines are now expected to repay their initial investment in less than 5 years.

In a connected announcement the Department for Energy and Climate Change yesterday released funding to support a new public small wind test facility at TUVNEL's Myershill in East Kilbride, Scotland. New testing infrastructure, and related equipment, will expand UK small wind testing capacity, improve cost efficiencies within testing processes, and help maintain the UK small industry at the forefront of research, development, and technological innovation.

Alex Murley, Head of Small Systems at RenewableUK said:

"Following over two years of communicating the importance of industry standards, appropriate infrastructure, and the need to support indigenous ;small wind manufacturing, RenewableUK is delighted to welcome recent Government announcements on small wind testing.

The UK leads the world in Small Wind System manufacturing, and the development of robust industry standards. Together with the launch of new financial incentives, new DECC funding for small wind testing will usher in a new dawn of technological maturity, sustainable market growth, and help consolidate UK industrial leadership."

-ENDS-

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NOTES TO EDITORS:

  1. RenewableUK is the trade and professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries. Formed in 1978, and with 600 corporate members, RewewableUK is the leading renewable energy trade association in the UK. Wind has been the world's fastest growing renewable energy source for the last decade, and this trend is expected to continue with falling costs of wind energy and the urgent international need to tackle CO2 emissions to prevent climate change. Our primary purpose is to promote the use of renewable power in and around the UK, both onshore and offshore. We act as a central point for information for our membership and as a lobbying group to promote renewable energy to government.
  2. In two examples, RenewableUK found that an 11kW device with an installation cost of around £50,000 on a site with a wind speed of around five meters per second could yield a total income of £10,026 per annum; while a 6kW device costing in the region of £22,000 under the same parameters could return £3420 per annum.
  3. RenewableUK's small wind systems annual statistics show that:
  • UK is the world's second biggest small wind market, equating to 25% of global demand;
  • UK manufacturers currently hold an 82% revenue share of the UK market;
  • Over 500 UK based jobs created in 2008;
  • The UK micro and small wind industry now provides 1,880 UK based jobs;
  • UK SWS installed capacity now exceeds 20MW, with 7.24MW installed in 2008 alone;
  • Over 10,000 small wind systems deployed in the UK since 2005;
  • Export revenue for UK manufacturers doubles between 2007 and 2008;
  • Over 10,000 small wind system exported by UK manufacturers since 2005;
  • UK manufacturers now export 50% of output to over 100 countries