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

As a solution to the global economic crisis, Gordon Brown has called for an international ‘Green New Deal’ in order to spark investment in new technologies and create jobs in the emerging renewable sector. In reference to F.D. Roosevelt’s economic plan to revitalise the US economy during the Great Depression the Prime Minister explained that he believes striving to evolve the UK in to a low carbon economy will create jobs while at the same time help the government to meet its climate change targets.

The British government has already set the target of an 80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050 and have taken some measures to instigate this reduction. Overseeing this gradual change towards a low carbon economy will be the Secretary of State for the Department for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Milliband. The minister has already advocated government investment in renewable energy technology and research and was a key figure behind last November’s Energy Act which set out the main provisions for government funding for green energy and paved the way for the implementation of a feed-in tariff in 2010.

Despite these changes, some environmental lobbies and members of the renewable industry have criticized the government for not providing enough funding for green projects and not setting out a concrete breakdown of the feed-in tariff which will be necessary to attract investment as it has done for example in Germany. Spokesman for Friends for the Earth, Andy Atkins summed up the frustration in certain circles by commenting,

“We need urgent and decisive action, not more token gestures and hot air.”

Gordon Brown is confident that the green sector will provide some relief to the recession in the jobs that it creates, not just in the UK but globally and he was keen to make this point last week at a summit in London. The prime minister produced the results of an independent report which states that the renewable energy sector will generate around 400,000 new jobs within the next 8 years meaning that by 2017 1.3 million people will be involved in the renewable sector in the UK.

During his historic visit to Washington last week for his meeting with US President Barack Obama, Brown stated that it was imperative both for the economy and the environment that changes are made to the way governments approach renewable funding stating,

“We know that the more we are able to co-ordinate these measures internationally, the more confidence and certainty we will build and the more investment we will be able to bring forward.  That’s why I want to create a global ‘green new deal’ that will pave the way for a low-carbon recovery and to help us build tomorrow’s green economy today.”

Key to this shift towards a low carbon economy is the feed-in tariff which has already proved extremely successful where it has been implemented elsewhere. Members of the industry have already expressed the need for a tariff which is more than a token gesture and is able to attract investors through coherent, long term, viable contracts. Some have suggested that a rate of 50p per unit of kWh energy fed-in to the grid by renewable systems under 5 Megawatts would be sufficient to help Britain catch up with nations such as Germany where feed-in tariffs are now well established. The feed-in tariff rate is crucial as it will offset the cost of producing energy by renewable means by offering investors long term contracts with fixed rates for their megawatts production.

Andy Atkins of Friends of the Earth, regarding the summit and the need for government action on tariffs and project funding added,

“Today’s summit is an encouraging development, but ministers must grasp the scale of the challenge we face. We need urgent and decisive action, not more token gestures and hot air”.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) along with other environmental groups, companies and trade unions have given their backing to the proposed introduction of feed-in tariffs when the government’s Energy Bill is debated at the end of the month. Supporters of the bill maintain that feed-in tariffs will be absolutely vital to the UK meeting green targets as they will offer an attractive incentive to renewable investors. The principle of feed-in tariffs is that the government will pay a fixed rate for energy fed back into the national grid by small, renewable energy producers, and has been highly successful around the globe, no more so than in Germany.

However, FOE have stated that it is the essential that the UK come up with a feed-in tariff which sets out a clear timetable for implementation in order to attract investment in the initial stages:

“A strong feed-in tariff is desperately needed to give homes, businesses, communities and local authorities a financial incentive to fit renewable energy systems and play a major role in tackling climate change.

“Unfortunately the government’s woolly proposals are fundamentally flawed and will not guarantee that an effective scheme will be introduced. Proposals for a feed-in tariff must be strengthened to ensure that the UK reaps the benefits of its abundant supply of clean, green energy” asserts Ed Matthew, spokesman for Friends of the Earth.