News
Government contingency plans announced
It proposes that, should the appeal be defeated, the December 12th 2011 deadline would move to March 3rd 2012 meaning that anyone installing and registering a system before March 3rd would be eligible for the 43 p/kWh tariff for 25 years (for installations less than 4 kW). After March 3rd these installations would be entitled to the tariff of 21 p/kWh (less than half), which would remain as initially indicated and would not be cut further as some had predicted. Large installations, with between 50 kW and 250 kW of capacity, will see feed-in tariff payments cut to 12.9 p/kWh. Mid-sized installations with 4-10 kW will see tariffs cut from 37.8 p to 16.8 p/kWh, while installations while 10-50 kW will see payments cut from 32.9 p to 15.2 p/kWh.
However, if the government wins its appeal then December 12th as a cut-off date will remain. Graham Russell, managing director of Viessmann, said: “This holding statement is great news for those who had already planned solar PV but became uncertain about it last year. Despite all the confusion and very clouded messages coming from the government, home owners have a chance, if they react quickly, to enjoy higher tariffs of 43.3 p/kWh until March 3rd. Homeowners should still strongly consider installing solar PV as even the worst case scenario of 21 p for 4 kW installations is still a great return and if homeowners act before the March 3rd deadline, they can install without any requirement for their home to meet an EPC level, requiring remedial work for most homes in the UK.“