Wednesday 19 December 2012

New support levels for solar and biomass

New support levels for solar and biomass

The Government has set out support levels designed to encourage new solar and biomass power generation developments.

Under the new package, ground-mounted solar installations with more than 5MW of capacity will receive 1.6 Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) per megawatt hour from April next year and building-mounted systems will get 1.7 ROCs/MWh.

The new support levels are higher than the 1.5 ROCs/MWh initially proposed by DECC but less than the 1.8 ROCs/MWh the solar industry said was necessary to keep new projects in operation.

Energy Minister Greg Barker said: “We have listened to industry about the need to differentiate support between building mounted and ground mounted installations and we have introduced two bands as a result. Our proposals for solar projects on commercial buildings will encourage businesses to consider solar PV as a serious option for meeting their power needs.”

Under the support mechanism for biomass, new biomass plants up to 400MW will receive 1.5 ROCs/MWh, which will fall to 1.4 ROCs/MWh after March 31 in 2016. DECC said this could unlock investment worth £600 million and create around 1,000 construction jobs.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey said: “Biomass will make a significant contribution as we seek to increase the amount of cost-effective, low carbon renewable power in our energy mix. The support we are setting out today will bring new investment into the economy and create new jobs.”

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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