While Britain is waiting for its government to release a new FiT strategy, the country’s renewable energy oragnisations worry about the impact this uncertainty may have on the industry, and have approached the Energy secretary with an urge for action.
While Brexit is rocking the British economy, there is a continuous demand for solar among corporates. However, confidence seems to diminish as a lack of ambition in the governments’ Clean Growth Strategy and Brexit uncertainty cause insecurity among the industry.
Anesco is the first company to secure a Renewable Obligation Certificate in the UK for its solar+storage sites. This confirms that renewable energy storage is clearly gaining importance in the country.
In face of the G20 Summit, which is taking place this weekend in Germany, the British government have admitted that there is still “work to do“ in order to reach the country’s energy goal. At the end of 2016, renewables made 8.9% of Britain’s energy mix, with the goal for the end of 2020 being 15%.
Big changes have been an
nounced by the UK government regarding changes to the support machanism for large scale PV, with the government moving from Renewable Energy Certificates (ROC’s) to CfD’s (Contracts for Difference). Below are 5 key aspects and considerations that should be in the mind of any PV professional operating in the UK.
Country: United Kingdom (UK)
Area: 244,820 km2
Population: 61.8 Million
Language: English
Government: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
Electricity Consumption: 341,918 GWh/Year
Electricity Import: 5,234 GWh/year
Percentage Renewable Energy: 5.1%
Percentage Photovoltaic: 0.07%
Installed Photovoltaic Output: 1 GW
Solar Irradiation: 750kWh/m2 to 1,100kWh/m2
© Katarzyna Chojnacka
Electricity and PV in the United Kingdom
The largest energy sources in the UK are Coal, Gas and Oil, comprising over three quarters of the country’s total energy production. Renewable energy is receiving more and more government support, however, due to the UK’s geographic location photovoltaic plays only a minor role in these developments. Currently only 0.07% of electricity production comes from solar installations.
Policy and Feed-in Tariffs
Since the 1st of April 2010, the United Kingdom provides feed in tariffs for renewable energy. The primary beneficiaries of these tariffs are private households. They receive subsidies when they produce electricity that is not fed back into the grid, but rather used directly at home. Installations over a total capacity of 5MW are not supported.
The original range of the subsidies was between 0.1049 €/kWp and a maximum of 0.5343 €/kWp. The following cutbacks of 2011 were further decreased in September and November 2012, with a current subsidy range of 0.0876 €/kWp to 0.19 €/kWp. The larger the installation, the lower the tariff.
Grid Parity in the United Kingdom
Net parity in the United Kingdom has still not been achieved. Predictions place grid parity in the year 2020.
Outlook
The United Kingdom must fight to keep the momentum of its renewable energy development going. To this end, this year more money has been freed up. At any rate, discussions are already in progress regarding the establishment of feed in tariffs for renewables. Low acceptance in industry and politics, and well as the difficult geographic situation, do not bode well for PV development. Oft overlooked, however, is the fact that London lies farther south than Berlin – conditions exist for photovoltaic in the southern parts of the UK.
Source: British Photovoltaic Association UK Solar PV Update, November 2012
