Energy Secretary Chris Huhne says that the era of cheap, abundant energy is over. Government policy is likely to favour a mix of energy sources
comments from Energy Minister, Charles Hendry, who said he was “closely review- ing” the £27B renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme that is due to start next April to encourage the take-up of green heating devic- es such as heat pumps, as well as the £8B FITs scheme. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Hendy said: “We inherited a situ- ation where we could see who was going to benefit commercially but we couldn’t really see how it was going to be paid for and that it would create pretty substantial bills.” The rate paid under FITs is due to be reviewed in 2012 and there are fears that it, along with the RHI, could be victims of this month’s Spending Review. “Almost 130 MPs have called on the Government to confirm the introduction of the RHI for microgenera- tion,” says Dave Sowden, chief executive of the Micropower Council. “Ministers in DECC have been inundated with briefings and urgent requests for clarity on this key policy before this industry starts to fall apart. Despite this, the Treasury’s iron shutters remain down.” A spokeswoman for DECC said that accu- sations that the RHI was going to be “slashed” were purely speculation. “The Government is doing what people would expect any responsi- ble government to do, especially in the current economic climate,” she said. “That is looking
across all our policies and inherited spend, which includes the costs associated with the proposed RHI and the FITs, to ensure that what is being spent is being spent in the best and most efficient way.”
And with Greg Barker declaring FITs to be “at the heart of our efforts to ‘green’ Britain”, there are certainly some mixed messages com- ing out of Whitehall.
“You have government scaring the living
Energy Minister Charles Hendry (left) has said he is closely reviewing the RHI and FITs schemes; Climate Change Minister Greg Barker (below) wants to give businesses more advice about micro- generation
daylights out of local authorities and busi- nesses, but also the investment community who look at long-term signals. So you risk all investment decisions being put on hold, because different ministers are saying ‘maybe we will, maybe we won’t’ – it sends com- pletely the wrong messages,” moaned the former Labour MP and sustainability adviser to Friends of the Earth, Alan Simpson. The Government has also come under fire for failing to beat the cut-off date to include renewable technologies in the planning sys- tem, under permitted development rights that allow certain types of installation to go ahead without the need for planning permission. It’s a delay the Government has put down to “logistical consequence of the change of gov- ernment”, but if you’re interested in installing a small-scale wind turbine or air-source heat pump, you’ll still have to clear demanding planning hurdles.
The microgeneration of clean energy has huge potential. As energy bills creep up, busi- ness and householders will be keen to be in charge of their own destiny and as technolo- gies roll out in bigger numbers, the costs will come down. But it does need government intervention and the right policies to get com- panies excited and to drive investment. We await the Spending Review with bated breath.
Sustainable Business | Microgeneration | October 2010 | 5
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