Following the release of the Government’s response to the Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) consultation and the news that it has just launched a consultation on the budget management and environmental sustainability of the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), Tom Vosper, Head of Climate Consulting, says:

“The Government has clearly listened to feedback, especially in regards to support for the community sector. However it’s clear from its comments that the Government understands there are issues still to be dealt with, primarily the difficulty faced in researching and developing projects due to the associated costs. Removing the requirement for achieving an EPC level D or above will certainly help community organisations to progress worthwhile projects with more certainty.

“Despite the increased level of administration, we also welcome the preliminary accreditation system as it will give confidence to project developers. However as this preliminary accreditation system will mainly benefit larger individual systems, it won’t entirely reverse the slow-down in the PV market because a large amount of the investment in this sector has come in the form of “funds” for multiple installations rather than one-off projects.

“We believe some of the available heat technologies would benefit from a similar preliminary accreditation system, and would like to see one introduced for the non-domestic RHI.”

Bad news abounds in the British press with daily economic doom and gloom stories painting a grim picture of the public sector with key areas such as education set to struggle as purse strings are tightened. However, good news at last as Solarcentury and GE announce their Solar4Schools programme, a scheme designed to make solar energy affordable for UK schools.

The Solar4Schools project will see GE Capital cover the installation costs of solar panels with average costs of £16,000 for a secondary school being paid off after just 15 years, utilizing the feed-in tariff mechanism. GE Capital’s investment means that schools only have to foot the deposit for the installation but can subsequently make significant savings on their energy bills as the panels begin to generate power.

The real benefit for schools comes once the initial cost of the installation is paid off. The feed-in tariff works by paying premium rates for the energy generated by small renewable projects meaning that schools will be able to enjoy a constant revenue stream from the energy generated by the panels over the projects 25 year lifespan.

CEO of Solarcentury Derry Newman stated,

“We’re delighted GE is helping roll Solar4Schools out on a larger scale. As local authorities face budget cuts, this is an opportunity for them to create a long term revenue stream.”

Certainly, with 250 schools already benefiting from a scheme which could see potential savings of £840 pa on bills and generating up to £3000 in revenue, the Solar4Schools project is already proving a success.

Estate agency firm Knight Frank claims that rural estates and farms in the UK could bring in extra income in the tens of thousands if they take advantage of the renewable energy feed-in tariff. In its latest publication, Rural Report Knight Frank created a hypothetical renewable energy farm utilizing all forms of renewable energy as a means of generating revenue through the feed-in tariff calculating the cash that could be generated from wind, solar, hydro and anaerobic digestion.

The report found that if complete grid-connectivity were achieved, the following incomes could be generated:

• 2 wind turbines: £300,000
• Anaerobic digester: £460,000
• Hydroelectric Installation: £190,000
• Solar Panels: £26,300

The total income for these renewable projects would be an impressive £916,000 with a potential of £18.5m to be made over the project’s lifetime.

The potential for landowners to benefit from feed-in tariff legislation in the UK is enormous with the potential not only to receive tariff payments but also to significantly reduce overheads by using the energy produced on the land.

The Knight Frank report explains the mechanism stating,

“Feed-in tariffs were introduced in the dying days of the Labour government and were designed to encourage people to create their own renewable electricity.

An index-linked payment guaranteed for up to 25 years is made for each unit of electricity produced even if it used by the generator for their own consumption. The tariff varies depending on how the energy is being generated and the scale of the scheme”.

Although the hypothetical estate set out in the Rural Report gives the absolute optimal conditions for generating revenue from renewable energy, it nevertheless highlights the potential to make money though renewable energy. With project lifetimes of 25 years and revenues protected by government legislation, landowners are catching on to the fact that there is real money to be made from investing in renewable installations.

Lord Hunt has announced that the government will roll out smart meters over the next 10 years in order to help the UK meet targets set out in the Energy Bill. Smart meters are considered to be fundamental to the introduction of feed-in tariffs whereby the small renewable energy producers will be paid a premium rate for energy they feed back into the national grid.

Lord Hunt, announcing the roll out said, “This is a major step forward; no other country in the world has moved to an electricity and gas smart meter roll-out on this scale.

“We anticipate a period of around two years to resolve the issues and to design the full detail of a domestic roll-out. Our aim is then to ensure that the subsequent roll-out happens over a period of 10 years. This would see delivery of smart meters by the end of 2020 to align with our renewables targets,” added Hunt.

Conservative peer Baroness Wilcox, who prompted the government announcement on smart meters, welcomed the decision to introduce smart meters across the country, commenting,

“Smart meters are not only critical for energy savings at home but will soon be inextricably linked with the feed-in tariff. The government are as alert as we are to the fact that we in this country are very late in protecting our energy supply and energy usage, but this concession by them is a great step forward.”