Isra-Mart srl: Scotland follows Westminster with proposed changes to renewables subsidies

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The Scottish government has today launched its own consultation on proposed changes to the Renewables Obligation scheme, which would largely bring subsidies for projects north of the border into line with the level of support proposed yesterday for the rest of UK by Westminster.

Most notably, the Scottish government is proposing that the level of support for marine energy project mirrors the rest of the UK.

Previously, Scotland has attempted to attract marine energy projects by offering higher subsidies, with wave energy projects qualifying for five Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) per MWh and tidal stream projects eligible for three ROCs/MWh.

However, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) yesterday proposed raising the level of support for both wave and tidal stream projects in the rest of the UK, from two ROCs/MWh to five ROCs/MWh.

Now Edinburgh is preparing to match the new support levels, raising the number of ROCs available to tidal stream projects to five ROCs/MWh.

Energy minister Fergus Ewing said the changes should help cement Scotland's position as one of the world's leading marine energy markets.

"We have a quarter of Europe's tidal stream, and the increase in support for this technology will encourage energy firms to capitalise on the enormous potential this presents," he said in a statement.

The rest of the proposed changes largely follow those put forward by Westminster, curbing support levels for a number of renewable energy technologies such as onshore wind and anaerobic digestion, and setting out clear rates of degression through to 2017.

However, the Scottish government is considering a break with the rest of the UK in one crucial area, with ministers proposing a consultation on whether to remove all subsidies for large biomass power plants.

The consultation document puts forward plans for a cap on the size of biomass plants that will qualify for ROCs that would allow smaller community scale plants to proceed, but would effectively curb investment in large-scale plants that only generate electricity.

Ewing said the proposal was designed to ensure valuable timber resources are used to generate both heat and electricity in the most efficient possible manner

"While the Scottish government supports the deployment of woody biomass in heat-only or combined heat and power plants, UK ambitions for large-scale, electricity-only woody biomass plants are an inefficient use of a finite resource," he said.

"We have serious concerns around the sustainability of supply. If proposed levels of imports are not matched with forecast demand or become more difficult to access, there is the danger that energy generators will find it easier to access their feedstocks from domestic wood-processing industries' well-established wood supply chains."

There are also minor differences between Edinburgh and Westminster on the level of support proposed for dedicated biomass power plants with combined heat and power (CHP), and dedicated energy crops with CHP.

The Scottish proposals would set out a degression curve for both technologies that would see support levels gradually cut from two ROCs/MWh currently to 1.8 ROCs/MWh by 2017, while the DECC is proposing that support levels remain at two ROCs/MWh through to 2015.

In related news, the Scottish government also announced today that it will up funding for the country's boiler scrappage scheme by £1.5m, in a move designed to help a further 3,600 households upgrade to more efficient domestic boilers.

"The boiler scrappage scheme has been a resounding success with over 6,000 households benefiting this year to date," said Alex Neil, cabinet secretary for infrastructure and capital investment.

"Around a further 2,400 private homes will benefit from this cash injection, together with around an additional 1,200 households via private landlords."