DECC is introducing regulations today to put the Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) scheme on a more predictable, certain and sustainable footing for householders, businesses and the solar industry. Following detailed consultation with industry and consumers, the Government is introducing a range of changes to the FITs scheme with effect from 1 August to provide better value for money and allow businesses and householders to plan with confidence. This is good news for the industry and for consumers and will ensure that as many people as possible benefit. The tariff for a small domestic solar installation will be 16p per kilowatt hour, down from 21p, and will be set to decrease on a 3 month basis thereafter, with pauses if the market slows down. All tariffs will ... Continue reading →

Peter Atherton, Citigroup’s head of European utility sector research, said he was “surprised” the Government had published Tuesday’s draft Bill when it still appeared to be very uncertain as to how key proposals would work. “After two years, the Government seems no closer to being able to square its desire to support new nuclear with its political imperative not to be seen to be subsidising nuclear build,” he wrote in a research note. He said the Government did not seem to have “much confidence in its own proposals” for how “contracts for difference” (CfD), intended to guarantee return on investments, would work. The Department of Energy and Climate Change said the reforms had been designed “to provide investors with transparency, longevity and certainty”, and that ... Continue reading →

The German development bank KfW invested €24bn in building energy efficiency from 2009-2011. Photograph, Berlin: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Business secretary Vince Cable, responsible for the UK's Green investment bank (GIB), visits the German development bank KfW today, a day after the law establishing the GIB was published. It will be an interesting visit. When I met Leon Macioszek, director of KfW in Berlin on Tuesday, I pointed out that the GIB can't actually borrow. This rendered him speechless as his mind wrestled hopelessly with the contradiction. But I am sure he will recover in time to tell Cable about the bank's work. There is a lot of it, and much of it very relevant to the UK's troubled Green deal plan to make 14m British ... Continue reading →

With the UK taking another step towards supporting new nuclear power on Tuesday – at either no extra cost to the consumer if you believe ministers, or substantial cost if you believe most others – it's worth taking a look at what actually happens when you phase out nuclear power in a large, industrial nation.That is what Germany chose to do after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, closing eight plants immediately – 7GW - and another nine by 2022. The shrillest critics predicted blackouts, which was always daft and did not happen.But more serious critics worried that the three things at the heart of the energy and climate change debate - carbon, cost and security of supply – would all head in the wrong direction. Here ... Continue reading →

With the UK taking another step towards supporting new nuclear power on Tuesday – at either no extra cost to the consumer if you believe ministers, or substantial cost if you believe most others – it's worth taking a look at what actually happens when you phase out nuclear power in a large, industrial nation.That is what Germany chose to do after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, closing eight plants immediately – 7GW - and another nine by 2022. The shrillest critics predicted blackouts, which was always daft and did not happen.But more serious critics worried that the three things at the heart of the energy and climate change debate - carbon, cost and security of supply – would all head in the wrong direction. Here ... Continue reading →