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< Thames Gateway housing developments to be water neutral | Dong Energy favours renewables over coal >
Higher feed-in tariffs needed for microgeneration, say campaigners
Solar power: 20-year payback under the proposed tariff
Renewable energy organisations have expressed concern that the government's flagship feed-in tariff scheme for microgeneration could prove a damp squib because the tariffs are too low.
A consultation on the Clean Energy Cashback Scheme ended last week. As proposed, it would reward owners of renewable energy plants of up to 5MW with a guaranteed payment for every unit of electricity produced, and an extra bonus for each unit exported to the grid.
However, the Renewable Energy Association (REA) said the proposed tariff levels were "too low" and set "inconsistently" across technologies.
"It worries the industry that almost every important potential investor we have spoken to, from the commercial sector to social housing providers and community scheme developers, all say the proposed rates are too low," said a spokesman for the REA.
The Energy Saving Trust agreed. It said its research over the summer had uncovered little interest from the domestic sector. It estimated payback times for domestic solar photovoltaics at 20 years and 15 years for domestic wind turbines.
The REA also said it was concerned that different types of generation were treated differently. It said the scheme would have little to interest the commercial sector.
Meanwhile, existing microgenerators are angry that they do not qualify for the scheme.
Campaigners fear that plans to meet 2 per cent of electricity demand from local generation by 2020 will be put at risk. They said that if a higher tariff was offered, microgeneration could potentially meet 5 per cent of UK electricity demand.
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