New warning on plan to cut solar subsidy

Friday 25 November 2011

HOUSING associations across Scotland have warned of devastating consequences if the UK Government halves subsidies for fitting solar panels to homes.

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RUSSELL LEADBETTER

They say it would jeopardise local projects to tackle fuel poverty and climate change, and that an estimated 6000 homes, many in the poorest communities, would lose out on having the panels fitted. The installation would have cost an estimated £42 million.

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) says carbon savings of around 24 tonnes per property over 25 years will be lost – and millions of pounds that would have been generated to fund energy-efficiency improvements as well as jobs and training will also disappear.In addition, many association members say the unexpected slashing of the tariff will affect their future decisions on funding energy-efficiency projects through UK Government-backed schemes.Solar photovoltaic panels are a major type of domestic energy generation that housing associations and co-operatives fit to properties to help tackle climate change and reduce fuel bills.The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change believes the boom in solar energy across the UK has been built on “unsustainable foundations”, with “overgenerous subsidies failing to keep pace with plummeting costs”. It is proposing to bring in the change on units installed from December 12.A House of Commons debate on the proposed cut on Wed-nesday night saw the opposition being defeated by 292 votes to 220.Ore Valley Housing Association, based in Cardenden, Fife, is now planning to axe a project to install solar panels on 360 homes which would have been worth nearly £50,000 to tenants in reduced fuel bills. The association believes the scheme would have cut around 6% of the total carbon emissions of its housing stock.A second association, the Link Group, has scrapped a plan to install solar panels on 1500 social rented homes across central Scotland. It would have led to £4.4m of electricity benefit to social housing tenants over the 25-year contract period.Link Group’s chief executive officer Craig Sanderson spoke for many when he said: “The proposals are perhaps a fatal blow not only to the provision of long-term sustainable solutions to ever-worsening fuel poverty in Scotland, resulting from the dramatic and uncontrolled increases in utilities’ charges, but also the renewables industry and its attendant jobs creation.”The Herald reported on Tuesday that many Scots private householders would miss out on the current level of subsidy if their planned solar panels were not fitted by December 12.Shadow Energy and Climate Change minister, Caroline Flint, says the cuts to Feed-in Tariffs would “hit families, put thousands of jobs and firms like Solar Century at risk and destroy the solar industry”. Dr Mary Taylor, SFHA chief executive, wants Westminster to think again. “Some housing association and co-operative tenants are among the poorest people in society and fuel poverty is a huge problem for many of them.“If the UK Government goes through with its proposals to halve the tariffs, then the many schemes developed by housing associations will be stopped, with tenants paying the price in terms of higher fuel bills.”Climate Change and Energy Minister Greg Barker said his priority is to put the solar industry on a firm footing “so that it can remain a successful and prosperous part of the green economy, and doesn’t fall victim to boom and bust”.‘‘

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New warning on plan to cut solar subsidy

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