'Green' power installations will see changes in FIT subsidies

It comes after a lengthy consultation period on FIT pricing brought about by government concerns over the affordability of subsidising large-scale solar installations.

As of the beginning of August, installations of solar power that have between 50 and 150kW of total capacity will receive 19 pence per kilowatt-hour produced, down from 32.9 pence. Larger installations of up to 250kW will receive a reduced tariff of 15p/kWh and installations of between 250kW and 5MW of capacity will get 8.5p/kWh. Both larger sizes were previously paid 30.7p/kWh. Solar schemes of less than 50kW were unaffected by the review.

Meanwhile, AD facilities up to 250kW will receive 14p/kWh and those between 250 and 500kW, 13p/kWh — while some AD plants will also be eligible for the renewable heat incentive (RHC) subsidies, which are separate from the FIT scheme. Previously AD plants up to 500kW got 11.5p/kWh, with plants larger than this getting 9p/kWh.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said that, under the previous pricing bands, every 5MW large-scale solar scheme would incur a cost of approximately £1.3m per year — meaning that 20 such schemes would incur an annual cost of around £26m. This could otherwise support solar installations for more than 25,000 households, it points out.