The limited funds available to stimulate the renewables industry will last longer as a result of the Government's decision to take its appeal to the Supreme Court, according to Paul Roche, director of sustainability and renewables at Grafton Group.
'Inadvertently, the Government has achieved its aim to stretch out the capped funds available,' he said. 'However, the fundamental issues still remain that the fund was arbitrarily fixed as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review, back in November 2010, and is now out of line with the current economic picture. This, coupled with the projected link to the installation of energy efficiency measures, make the long-term prospects for PV look bleak.
'The sustainable energy industry remains one of the few success stories where there is potential to generate immediate growth, employment and, equally important, energy security for the UK. The government would be well-advised to use this period of uncertainty to devise a strategic plan that allows the potential of this industry to be realised, for the benefit of the economy as a whole.'
A statement from Grafton said the industry had effectively stalled while a final decision is taken about whether its reduction of the Feed-in-tariff (FiT) on 12 December was unlawful before the end of the consultation period.
'Installations have fallen away dramatically since the date because building owners are wary about adopting PV when there is uncertainty about the incentives they will receive in return.
'Whatever the outcome, the revised date of 3 March is now legally set as the point beyond which FiTs will be halved. When installations begin to recover, the incentives will be paid at the new lower rate, thus making the 'pot' go further.'
