GO GREEN & GET FiT NOW AS TARIFF RATES LOOK TO CHANGE

Is your energy use in good shape? Or does it need to get FiT quickly? If you are thinking that your business would like to generate its own energy, you need to move quickly as The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is proposing to cut the FiT (feed-in tariff) rates for solar PV installations from 1st January 2016 by as much as 87%.

Stockport based Bosci – energy efficiency experts – are warning that this could see the payback period of energy generation solutions increasing by 35% to 45%, which is obviously going to increase the time it will take to get a return on your investment. Of course this change won’t reduce the environmental benefits of your business generating its own energy, but it may incentivise your company to move quickly if it is something you are considering.

The DECC is also proposing to change the indexation of the feed-in tariff scheme, moving it away from retail price index (RPI) to consumer price index (CPI). The department argues that CPI is a more appropriate way of compensating investors for inflation.

Paul Abbott from Bosci explains further:

“This the DECC’s statement on their plan, it’s a bit complex but please stay with it.

“There is a risk that these changes – combined with the separate consultation proposals to remove pre-accreditation – may result in significantly reduced rates of deployment. However, industry has proven resilient to previous significant changes to FITs, and has been able to adapt to previous tariff reductions and the introduction of degression. The risk of reduced deployment has to be seen in the context of this and of the need to have more robust controls on spend to enable the FiTs scheme to continue. More broadly, it should be seen in the light of most of the technologies in the scheme having already deployed more now than had been expected by 2020.”

What this means in simple terms, is that subsidies available to small UK businesses could potentially be withdrawn by the DECC from January 2016, if the level of subsidies paid out continues to rise.

Businesses wishing to beat the cut would have until the end of this year to install and commission their solution. Payments from the tariff could even be closed off to new applicants altogether in January, if the changes are not deemed to save enough money for the Government. So if you want to take advantage of the existing rates, you need to get your new system installed and commissioned by 31^st December 2015.

This DECC proposal isn’t set in stone yet. However, it will be made definite (one way or the other) by 23rd October. By this time it may be too late to get all of the work done especially if you need DNO approval. It’s worth noting that systems up to 11KW don’t need DNO approval. But how do you know which kind of system you need?

To find out which system is best suited to your business, please contact ross@bosci.co.uk to arrange a free energy audit

You can find out more about Bosci at www.bosci.co.uk