The West Wales Eco Centre have teamed up with The Environmental Network for Pembrokeshire (TENP) to organize an international feed-in tariff which is set to be the first of its kind held in the UK. The conference, to be held in Llandissilio, Pembrokeshire on the 21^st of May will highlight the key features of the UK government’s upcoming feed-in tariff legislation which will be implemented in 2010.

Specifically, the conference will demonstrate the practical implications for the new feed-in tariff legislation for small scale, renewable energy suppliers in Wales. The principle behind feed-in tariffs is that they attract investment in green technologies by offering incentives designed to offset the obvious additional costs involved in generating electricity by renewable means. Small scale renewable energy suppliers would therefore be offered fixed contracts with a guaranteed premium rate for units of energy fed-in to the national grid. The higher rate paid for these units of energy would be met by the large energy companies, a system which has been extremely successful elsewhere, particularly in Germany.

With the obvious benefits to investors in mind, the conference to be held at the Nant y Ffin Hotel will address the commercial advantages to those thinking about investing in renewable energy in West Wales and will demonstrate the advantages that the new policy will give to green projects across the country. The free event will be sure to attract interest from those still unsure about the new legislation and also investors planning to invest in the West Wales area.

The West Wales Eco Centre and TENP are planning to draw examples where similar feed-in tariff legislation has proved fruitful worldwide. In Germany, the success of renewable energy and in particular solar energy has been largely attributed the coherent tariff policy implemented there in order to attract investment. There will therefore be a presentation by Josef Pesch of Juwi Holding AG on the subject of the German experience of implementing feed-in tariffs. In order to clarify government policy, John Moriarty from the Department of Energy and Climate Change will address the conference on the development of the UK tariff legislation. From a practical and logistical point of view, Hugo House of Generation Marketing, Good Energy will talk about the implications of feed-in tariffs for the electricity industry and Gordon James, Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru will highlight the need for a decentralized grid in managing the flow of energy being fed-in to the grid.

The conference marks a major landmark in renewable energy in the UK and will highlight the tangible benefits and provide valuable information for an industry which is still in its infancy in this country. For more information visit www.tenp.org.uk

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the heads of the worlds leading solar companies have met in Poznan, Poland to discuss the development and implementation of global policies designed to help the growth of the solar industry internationally and to lead the way in the reduction of Greenhouse Gases (GHC) in order to meet climate goals.

Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech’s Chairman and CEO, Jeremy Leggett, Executive Chairman of Solarcentury, Mike Ahearn, Chairman and CEO of First Solar, and Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director strongly advocated solar energy as a viable energy production solution which should be taken up by governments around the globe:

“Solar technology is no longer a niche energy solution, but is already reaching the scale and cost points to fundamentally change the way we generate electricity. As a result of substantial investments over the past 5 years, the solar industry has dramatically improved solar technologies and established roadmaps for further cost reductions. In fact, electricity generated from solar installations is already reaching parity with peak energy and retail energy prices in many regions.”

The conference concluded that the following objectives are the key to meeting GHG- reduction and economic-development goals:

·          Stringent, ambitious, international and national carbon regulation policies

·          Enforceable renewables mandates with a solar carve out or credit multiplier for solar energy

·          Near-term incentives that could include feed-in tariffs, partial rebates, tax credits and/or property-based loans

·          Favourable net metering, interconnection, permitting and land-use policies.

The recent UK Energy Bill will certainly have pleased the consortium as it gives provisions for the implementation of feed-in tariffs by 2010 which are seen as being fundamental to the setting up of a coherent renewable energy solution. The plans are for the government to guarantee a fixed, premium rate for energy fed back into the national grid by small, renewable energy producers and will be essential to the UK meeting its climate change goals.