Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing has urged the UK Government to delay a subsidy cut which he said is having a ”devastating impact” on Scotland’s solar panel installers.
The Westminster coalition announced six weeks ago that it was slashing the feed-in tariff for electricity generated by solar panel installations from December 12, with rates dropping for new schemes from 43.3p per kilowatt hour to 21p.
Climate change minister Gregory Barker said the change was being brought in as the falling cost of photovoltaic (PV) panels meant returns on the scheme had reached double that originally envisaged.
Mr Ewing said he recognised the need for a cut in the subsidy but said it is being brought in far too quickly and is threatening the industry’s growth potential.
He said the slashing of the subsidy in such a short timescale had seen installations on social housing schemes cancelled, jobs lost and offers of new work dropped.
George Hood, director of EHS Solar in Dundee’s Craigie Industrial Estate, recently told The Courier (link) of his concerns about the planned subsidy cut following the reduction announcement.
He said the swiftness of the change had pulled the rug from under the feet of the industry, which he said was expecting change to come from the start of the 2012 financial year.
Mr Ewing who will this week tour a number of installation firms hit by the subsidy cut called on the UK Government to rethink the plan and bring in the cut in a stepped manner instead.
He said: ”The speed with which these changes will be implemented will have a huge impact on the industry. The UK Government have issued a consultation and say that they will listen. Yet the consultation closes two weeks after the proposed changes come into force.
”While I recognise the argument for cutting tariffs, the pace of change is far too fast. I have urged the UK Government to make these changes incrementally, with enough warning to allow responsible businesses to build the changes into their business plans.
”These planned cuts are having a devastating impact. Companies have contacted me reporting lost business ranging from £60,000 to £2.5 million.
”Others have had to cancel job offers to new staff members and one company is likely to make six people redundant. And schemes to install solar PV on thousands of social houses providing cheap energy to those in fuel poverty have already been cancelled.”
Photo by Simon Burt/PA Wire