Isra-Mart srl:Barker reveals sun could be setting solar farm incentives

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Climate Minister Greg Barker yesterday hinted that the government could reform the feed-in tariff incentive scheme to stop large scale solar arrays from taking advantage of the incentive scheme.

Responding to parliamentary questions, Barker said the government had inherited a feed-in tariff system that had failed to anticipate the fact that it would incentivise the deployment of photovoltaic field arrays.

He added that the government would not act retrospectively to reduce incentives for field arrays that have already been approved, but insisted that large deployments should "not be allowed to distort the market" for roof-mounted PV or other renewables.

He also confirmed the government could undertake an early review of feed-in tariffs ahead of the scheduled 2012 review, adding that the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) would provide details on how will decide whether an early review is necessary in the near future. However, he offered no indication of what would constitute the kind of large scale field arrays that he fears are distorting the market.

The renewable energy industry expressed concern that the comments could lead to more uncertainty for investors, particularly those keen to fund large scale solar projects, such as those planned for a number of farms in the south west.

"The Minister stated that the Government would not act retrospectively, so comfort can be gained that no project that starts generating will see its revenue diminished, but this statement is likely to worry potential investors in ground-mounted schemes," said Gaynor Hartnell, chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association. "Those that have acted in good faith, and already made substantial investments on legal works and preparation of planning applications, will be feeling very uncomfortable indeed."

Seb Berry, head of public affairs at solar installation firm Solarcentury, urged the government to consult with the renewables industry before cutting incentives that have only just begun to drive investment in clean energy projects.

"It's worth emphasising that despite Ministerial concerns about solar PV 'farms', the UK PV market this year will amount to less than 0.5 per cent of that in Germany. So a sense of perspective is needed," he said. "Ministers are quite right to say that the feed-in tariff scheme was never intended to deliver huge numbers of multi MW PV 'farms'. Equally however, it is important that DECC base their assessment on actual levels of installation on the ground and numbers of confirmed projects with definite funding, planning permission and grid connection, rather than the 'goldrush' PR hype surrounding these schemes."