Government submits appeal on Feed in Tariff decision to Supreme Court

Energy Ministers have submitted their final appeal in an attempt to overturn a High Court ruling that cuts to the Feed-in Tariff were unlawful.

The decision on the appeal will give a ruling on the exact rate of Feed in Tariff for the period from December 12th 2011 to March 3rd 2012. This is the clarification the Solar PV industry has been waiting for and closure on this issue will be seen by many in the industry as a step necessary to allow the market to finally move on.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the Department for Energy and Climate Change submitted the paperwork yesterday two days ahead of a deadline set from their last Court of Appeal defeat.

Because the appeal court judges refused leave to challenge their verdict, the Government must apply directly to a panel of three Supreme Justices, who will decide whether to allow the final appeal to be heard.

Urgent Feed in Tariff question in Parliament

Minister of State for Climate Change, Gregory Barker, responded to an urgent question asked by Caroline Flint, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, on the Government's reforms to feed-in tariffs on Thursday 9 February.

http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=9995&st=11:35

Plans announced to improve Feed in Tariffs

New energy secretary Ed Davey has pledged to make improvements to the Feed-in tariff (FITs) at an announcement made on February 9th at the DECC. His junior minister Greg Barker said: "Today we are announcing plans to improve the Feed-in Tariffs scheme. Instead of a scheme for the few the new improved scheme will deliver for the many. Our new plans will see almost two and a half times more installations than originally projected by 2015 which is good news for the sustainable growth of the industry.

The Solar PV phase 1 consultation considered the rate of Feed in Tariff along with energy efficiency requirements for properties applying for the FIT.

Under DECC'S proposed new reforms, support for Feed-in tariffs could be cut from July 1 to 13.6p/kWh, while tariffs for photovoltaic panels (PV) with more than 4kW capacity could be reduced to as little as 4.7p/kWh, this is dependent on the number of installations taking place by this time.

Leading figures in the Solar PV industry have reacted with outrage at the plans to "Kill" the Solar PV industry throughout the course of 2012 whilst other technologies such as Micro CHP which have much lower uptake have seen increases to Feed in Tariffs. The plans have been slammed as a "Joke" by chairman of the STA Howard Johns and give raise further questions about the government's plan to be the "greenest government ever". In terms of energy efficiency requirements it has now been proposed that this be move to include properties within "Band D" which should calm some of the industry down. The previous plan to only include Bands A-C was slammed as restricting the availability of Feed in Tariffs to less than 15% of homes which would have crippled the industry regardless of the actually Feed in Tariff rates.

A second consultation review on solar controls is set to close on April 3. 

The latest consultation report can be viewed here. 

Caroline Lucas leads call for £70bn 'green quantitative easing' programme

Green party MP Caroline Lucas is calling for a £70bn programme of 'green quantitative easing' (GQE) to be launched, in a bid to set the country on track for a "genuinely green economy". 

The leader of the green party launched the call and said it was time for the bank of england to help create green jobs and stabalise the green economy through this Quantitative Easing. Ms Lucas will now be calling on fellow MP's to support her proposals to then be raised at the next appearance of Sir Mervyn King at the Treasury Select Committee.

DECC announces review of disastrous handling of Feed-in Tariff cuts

The DECC has announced it will be conducting an enquiry into how the Solar PV Feed in Tariffs were handled, after criticism from across the Solar PV industry.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change has been widely criticised for its handling of the solar PV consultation, which was later ruled unlawful by a High Court judge.

Industry leaders, select committee reports and even the CBI supported the view the cuts were too hurried and would wreck the UK's developing solar industry.

In a written answer to Parliament, Energy Minister Greg Barker confirmed an inquiry has now been launched.

His letter to Shadow Energy Secretary Caroline Flint, added: “The Department has already commissioned a review of lessons for the future.”

Energy Efficiency crack team announced by Ed Davey

In his first speech as Energy Secretary, Ed Davey has announced the formation of a "crack team" to lead the fight on energy efficiency in the UK. The team of 50 will operate within the DECC and will support the roll our of the Green Deal and smart meters.

Mr Davey said: "I'm hugely enthusiastic about energy efficiency. It's the cheapest way of cutting carbon - and cutting bills for consumers. It has to be right at the heart of what we do. 

Greenhouse emissions increase by more than 3%

CO2 emissions for 2010 hit nearly 4% as the first increase since 2003 was witnessed in the UK. Emissions in the residential sector increase more than 15% since 2009 and the DECC has attributed this to the colder winter that was experienced.

Feed-in tariff cuts affect global inverter shipments in 2011

A new report from research firm IHS has found that success in the global inverter market dipped slightly in 2011 due to feed-in tariff cuts in several leading solar markets. The PV Inverters: Surviving the Storm report states that despite long-term growth prospects, shipments of PV inverters last year fell to the equivalent of 23.4GW, down 1 percent from 23.6GW in 2010.

IHS’s research also found that along with a dip in inverter shipments; last year saw a 15 percent drop in revenue, down to ~£3.3 billion. This was reportedly due to a sharp decline in average selling prices.

However, despite this slight downturn, IHS says that inverter shipments are expected to take a positive turn in 2012, 2013 and 2014 while revenue decline will ease to just 3 percent, after which growth is expected to return and then climb to the 20 percent range by 2014 as demand from new markets begins to make an impact.