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UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
Significant solar job losses would follow ending tariff support – REA
Over 40% of UK solar installers are considering leaving the industry entirely, while 78% of installers are considering reducing staff levels due to recent government proposals relating to closing the Feed-in Tariff and removing the Export Tariff. This is according to a survey of solar installation companies conducted by the Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC), a subsidiary of the Renewable Energy Association (REA).
The survey, responded to by 140 RECC members, says that half of respondents said they would cut more than 75% of their workforce if the changes come in as proposed. These changes include closing the Feed-in Tariff for new solar projects in the spring of 2019, while the government is also considering ending export tariffs for new small-scale solar projects, meaning they would essentially be producing and exporting electricity for nothing, says the REA.
The Association says that around 11,000 people were employed in the solar PV industry in 2016/17, and that installers make up a significant amount of this total. When the Feed-in Tariff was last significantly reformed and tariffs cut, in 2016, an estimated 9,000 jobs were lost.
In the REA’s response to the government’s latest proposals, the industry argued that export tariffs for new small-scale renewable power projects must be retained after the scheme closes in spring next year. New targeted tax measures should also be introduced, it said, including 0% VAT for on-site renewables, and introduction of levy relief, to maintain deployment rates and the existing industry base. Such support would assist with a transition in the next few years to a more market-based approach for small-scale solar, once metering and settlement procedures can accommodate this, adds the REA.
Dr Nina Skorupska CBE, Chief Executive of the Renewable Energy Association said: ‘The world of energy is changing from one dominated by centralised energy generating systems, to one based on local distributed energy which is ideal for solar. Combined with battery storage technology, solar has enormous potential to meet our energy needs now and for generations to come. The government should be deploying
its energy policy to support the solar sector’s growth and not pull the rug from under the feet of thousands of hardworking business men and women up and down the country.’
Meanwhile, the REA is also dismayed by the decision taken by the government to drastically reduce the greenhouse gas threshold for new biomass plants within the Contracts for Difference support scheme. Benedict McAleenan, Head of Biomass UK, part of the REA, commented: ‘With this decision the government has undermined its own energy policies by attacking biomass yet again. Just when we need low-cost, flexible power to back up technologies like wind and solar, this decision risks it all. With no coherent strategy on decarbonising heat, the government is undermining a key option.’
