New finance scheme launched for renewable electricity

The government has announced an initiative to provide payments to homeowners and businesses for new installations of solar panels and other electricity-generating renewable tech. From 1st January 2020, the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) will legally oblige all energy suppliers with more than 150,000 customers to introduce at least one tariff for energy that gets exported to the national grid.

Providers can set their own fair rates anywhere above zero, and initial indications suggest rates of around 5.5 pence per kilowatthour (kwh). The scheme replaces the old Feed-in Tariff (FIT), which paid out on both generation and export, but closed on 31st March this year. The SEG won’t be available to customers who already benefit from FIT payments. Find out more on page 81.