Onshore wind subsidy ban could cost consumers £500m Citizens Advice warns

Government plans to block subsidies for onshore wind farms could cost energy customers at least £500 million Citizens Advice has warned.

Citizens Advice said excluding onshore wind from the Contracts for Difference (CfD) subsidy auction could drive up electricity bills for consumers.

The national charity said the absence of wind from the auction could result in more expensive technologies being purchased instead, adding as much as half a billion pounds to bills over the 15-year duration of subsidy contracts.

If there are further auctions over several years the costs for consumers could be higher still.

The Government has already closed the Renewables Obligation to onshore wind development from April 2016 and will soon set out how the CfD scheme will be changed so that it no longer subsidises onshore wind farms.

The charity recommends that onshore wind remains eligible for ‘subsidy free’ contracts, by lowering the cap on the price they receive to a level equivalent to the cost of new-build gas generation.

Citizens Advice also said scaling back support for less mature technologies such as offshore wind, leaving solar and onshore wind to compete for the entire subsidy budget, could save consumers an additional £1 billion.

Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian guy said: “Households are already struggling with high energy bills.

“To lower this burden the Government needs to make the most of consumers’ money invested in renewables – this means using the cheapest technologies available.

“Many of the Government’s proposed policy changes to clean energy subsidies are necessary given the overspend in the low carbon budget. But, moves to block onshore wind could make it more difficult to keep bills low while keeping the lights on and reducing emissions.”