The UK’s Clean Energy Cashback, what the UK Government is calling the nation’s feed in tariff, was announced back in 2008, but won’t officially kick off until April this year.
The program will pay homes, businesses and communities for all the electricity generated by small scale renewable energy systems up to 5 megawatts. While the scheme will pay the equivalent of AUD 65c per kilowatt hour (current exchange rates) for electricity produced by grid connect solar power systems and system caps are far more generous than those in Australia’s various feed in tariff programs, Friends of the Earth, the Renewable Energy Association and the Cooperative Group say that the scheme lacks ambition.
The coalition says that higher payments and other incentives are needed to ensure that more people install small scale green energy systems and help the UK slash greenhouse gas emissions, create new green jobs and reduce the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels.
A survey of more than 2,000 people conducted last week for the three groups strongly supports the call for a more ambitious feed-in tariff.
70% of those surveyed said that they would be prepared to pay an extra 10 pence on their electricity bills each month, in addition to the already proposed annual increase of £1.17 until 2013 when the scheme is due to be reviewed, to enable the Government to introduce a more ambitious scheme from the outset. Friends Of The Earth say the additional money could put the UK on track to deliver three times more green electricity in 2020 than currently planned.
71% per cent of home owners surveyed said that they would consider fitting renewable energy systems if feed-in tariffs were generous enough.
Final details of the Clean Energy Cashback will be announced in the next few days.
