Decc to scrap onshore wind RO one year early

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) has today confirmed it will scrap the Renewables Obligation (RO) support for onshore wind by April next year, one year earlier than planned.

The announcement on Thursday morning follows up on the pledge made in the Conservative manifesto to “halt the spread” of onshore windfarms by removing all new subsidies for the technology.

All public subsidies for new onshore wind developments will be removed by 1 April 2016, although up to 5.2 GW of onshore wind capacity, which already has planning consent, a grid connection offer and acceptance, could be eligible for a grace period.

Energy secretary Amber Rudd said the move will “keep bills as low as possible for hard-working families”.

She said: “As part of our plan, we are committed to cutting our carbon emissions by fostering enterprise, competition, opportunity and growth. We want to help technologies stand on their own two feet, not encourage a reliance on public subsidies.

“So we are driving forward our commitment to end new onshore wind subsidies and give local communities the final say over any new windfarms.”

In a statement to the House of Commons, Rudd stated that taking into account the early closure of the RO for onshore wind, the UK will have 11.6GW of onshore wind supported by the mechanism, alongside 0.75GW supported by contracts for difference.

“This puts us above the middle of the range set out in the EMR Delivery Plan, our best estimate of what we would need to meet our 2020 targets,” she added.

However, the move has been slammed by the Scottish government as “irrational” and “deeply regrettable”.

Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing said Decc’s decision will “cause huge uncertainty for investors not only onshore but across the renewables sector as a whole” and have a “disproportionate impact on Scotland”.

He added: “This announcement goes further than what had been previously indicated. It is not the scrapping of a new subsidy that was promised but a reduction of an existing regime – and one under which companies and communities have already planned investment.”

Ewing stated the early removal of the RO puts at risk “a huge investment pipeline, conceived in good faith” and warned the UK government may face a judicial review against the decision.

Renewable UK also hit out against the early scrapping of the RO for onshore wind, saying the move “leaves thousands of British jobs and millions of pounds worth of investment hanging in the balance”.

Renewable UK chief executive Maria McCaffery said: “The government’s decision to end prematurely financial support for onshore wind sends a chilling signal not just to the renewable energy industry, but to all investors right across the UK’s infrastructure sectors.

“It means this government is quite prepared to pull the rug from under the feet of investors even when this country desperately needs to clean up the way we generate electricity at the lowest possible cost – which is onshore wind.”

She added: “If government was really serious about ending subsidy it should be working with industry to help us bring costs down, not slamming the door on the lowest cost option.”