Government to slash subsidies for large scale solar farms
[1] The government has unveiled proposals to limit
the subsidies paid to large solar farms from next
April. Owners of installations bigger than 5
megawatts (MW) will have to compete with other
[5] renewables for financing. The Department of
Energy & Climate Change (Decc) says it wants to
encourage the development of smaller scale and
community energy production.
Campaigners have condemned the move,
[10] saying it will undermine investor confidence in the
renewable sector. The government wants to draw a
close to the current system two years before it was
projected to end.
Many parts of Southern England have seen a
[15] boom in solar power generation in recent years.
There is currently enough photovoltaic installed
capacity to power 620,000 homes.
Land owners have been encouraged to switch to
"solar farming", thanks to a subsidy regime that can
[20] earn them around £1,000 per acre per annum for
up to 25 years. The government proposals highlight
concerns that this switch to solar is happening far
too quickly. They are worried that by 2017 there will
be more solar energy being produced than the UK
[25] could afford.
Now, in a move that has been trailed for some
time, it is set to bring forward a change to the way
that solar producers receive financial support.
Under existing regulations, photovoltaic installations
[30] are subsidised through the Renewables Obligation
system. This "one way" mechanism means that
generators get paid regardless of any changes in
either the price of electricity or their costs of
production. If these costs of production drop, as has
[35] happened to solar power over the past four years,
there is no way for the government to claw back
any of the subsidy.
The government now wants to end this system
two years early and make solar installations larger
[40] than 5MW compete for subsidies under a new
method called "contracts for difference".
Campaigners were also upset, claiming that the
government has completely underestimated the
potential of renewables. "Every time a renewable
[45] energy technology starts to do well it gets hit by a
wave of Government uncertainty, which pushes up
costs and threatens jobs and investment," said
Alasdair Cameron from Friends of the Earth.
"Attacking large-scale solar parks, while doing
[50] almost nothing to boost rooftop systems, is another
sign of this Government's fragmented approach to
policy making. Solar power is cheap, popular and
essential for tackling climate change and energy
security."
Adapted from www.bbc.co.uk/news.
A partir do fragmento “Campaigners have condemned the move, saying it will undermine investor confidence in the renewable sector”, pode-se entender que:
