British Government to end onshore wind farm subsidies a year early
New wind farms will be excluded from the Renewables Obligation subsidy scheme from April 1 2016, a year earlier than expected
The British Government confirmed on Wednesday that it will end subsidies for onshore wind farms in 2016, a year earlier than set out by the previous coalition government.
New wind farms will be excluded from the Renewables Obligation subsidy scheme from April 1 2016, a year earlier than expected, to keep a Conservative Party election manifesto promise.
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Amber Rudd made the announcement this week and the decision could face a judicial review.
The decision brings an end to subsidy support for wind power a year earlier than set out in the previous Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition agreement.
There are currently just over 5,000 onshore turbines in the UK, with plans in place to add an additional 3,000.
Onshore wind received around £800 million in Government subsidies in 2014 and generated 18 gigawatts of power, accounting for 5.6 per cent of the country’s total electricity.
The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) said a grace period would apply for projects that have already secured planning permission.
The Labour Party has criticised the move saying it could jeopardise around 1,000 wind power projects currently awaiting planning permission and that need subsidy support to operate at a profit.
Reports suggest that Rudd and Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government will go ahead with plans to give local communities the right to veto wind farm projects, instead of the Government.
Funding for wind power subsidies comes from levies added to household energy bills under the Renewables Obligation scheme.
Rudd insisted the decision would not mean the Government will be unable to achieve its renewable energy targets by 2020.
Rudd said: "We are driving forward our commitment to end new onshore wind subsidies and give local communities the final say over any new wind farms. Onshore wind is an important part of our energy mix and we now have enough subsidised projects in the pipeline to meet our renewable energy commitments.”
In a statement on the DECC website, Rudd added: “As part of our plan, we are committed to cutting our carbon emissions by fostering enterprise, competition, opportunity and growth. We want to help technologies stand on their own two feet, not encourage a reliance on public subsidies. So we are driving forward our commitment to end new onshore wind subsidies and give local communities the final say over any new wind farms. Onshore wind is an important part of our energy mix and we now have enough subsidised projects in the pipeline to meet our renewable energy commitments”.
