Feed In Tariffs (FITs) for anaerobic digestion (AD), standalone PV solar and wind installations between 100 and 1500kW have been so in demand that installations are now queued to the first or second quarter of 2017.
The quarterly spending caps were introduced by the department for energy and climate change (Decc) last year as way to control spending on FITs. Detailed caps are set out for each technology and size each quarter. Installations that do not get FIT deployment in the quarter they apply will be queued for entry into the next available deployment cap.
Anaerobic digestion feed in tariffs have been applied for by 25 generators since the revised Feed In Tariff reopened in February, with six generators already queued for the first tariff period next year. Standalone PV has had 270 generators apply, with many queuing until the first tariff period in 2017. The FIT for wind installations between 100 and 1500kW has been even more in demand, with 34 generators applying for the tariff and eight queuing until the second tariff period next year, which will begin on 1 April 2017. Wind between 50 and 100kW are queued until the third tariff period this year.
Under the revised scheme, the feed in tariff rate falls by 10 per cent automatically if a technology deployment quarterly cap is reached, on top of the planned degression.
Not all technologies and sizes were oversubscribed. The deployment cap for the second tariff period (1 April – 30 June 2016) has yet to be met for any size of residential PV, wind below 50kW or above 1500kW, and any size of hydro power. Any unused capacity will be rolled over to the next tariff cap period.
Decc has said it will review eligibility and the balance of caps between technologies next year, and will consider whether there are grounds to review tariffs again. At the time, it said that review “will take account of factors including deployment levels, broader policy objectives, state aid constraints and value for money”.
Read the data: FIT Deployment Caps that have been reached in Tariff Period 2 and Feed-in Tariff (FIT): Deployment Caps Indicative Queue for ROO-FIT and Standalone Installations
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FIT review leaves PV focus on rooftop scale (from the New Power Archives)
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