Build Magazine August 2015

Build Magazine 34 Announced this summer, Government plans to reduce subsidy support for UK solar PV installations were met with widespread disappointment across the industry. However, in the face of uncertainty, there is still an enormous solar PV opportunity at hand for non-domestic users – and after recent decisions, the time to act is now. One of the most headline-grabbing developments to impact the UK solar PV industry in recent months has been pro- posed government cuts to the Renewa- bles Obligation (RO) and feed-in tariffs (FiTs) – which are the main financial incentives in place to drive uptake of non-domestic renewable electricity tech- nologies. Initial proposals announced in July by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) outlined plans to stop RO subsidies for solar arrays under 5MW from 1st April 2016. They also indicated that spending cuts to FiTs (including the removal of pre-accredita- tion) are in the pipeline. However, while many feel that the sector has been dealt a major blow by the planned cuts, now is certainly not the time to panic. As a leading energy provider, at Flogas Renewables (part of Flogas Britain Ltd) we’ve seen the solar industry go through its ups and downs over the years. It has faced similar setbacks and uncertainty about government incentives in the past, and yet it has remained resilient – continuing to find ways to reinvent itself and thrive in challenging conditions. Although changes to subsidy will un- doubtedly cause some casualties along the way, solar PV is still a crucial part of the UK’s future energy mix. In light of this, as a company, we’ve worked hard to develop an offering that makes long- term commercial sense for businesses – and it’s important that people don’t lose out on this by dwelling on the ‘what ifs’. A window of opportunity Despite the disappointing frame- work of the consultations, at the time of writing nothing had been set in stone. Yes, it’s likely that the proposed changes to support mechanisms will go ahead as planned, but in reality we won’t see the impact of these for at least a few months. The timings outlined in the original announcement suggest that we do have some cer- tainty on the RO for the time being – and solar projects of 5MW or less (either roof- or ground-mounted) will still be eligible for RO support until 1st April 2016. The consultation also included a proposal to end pre-accreditation for FiTs. Under the current framework, it’s possible to submit an application for a proposed solar PV installation in advance, and obtain a tariff guar- antee that’s valid for a limited time ahead of system commissioning – a practice that will come to an end should the consultation go ahead as planned. On top of this, DECC has confirmed that it is looking into further cost-control measures that will have an impact on the scheme. However, we’re not expecting these changes to be instant. All of this means that there is an immediate opportunity at hand. With concrete decisions yet to be Act Now to Make the Most of the PV Opportunity