Wind farm subsidies ban ‘is all spin’
MINISTERS are being accused of covertly reintroducing consumer subsidies for onshore wind turbines, despite the Conservatives’ pledge to ditch the lucrative incentives for energy firms.
A new Government green energy scheme will guarantee payments to operators of pairs of turbines, each up to 490ft high, and solar farms spanning up to 20 acres, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.
Campaigners against further onshore turbines said the policy could encourage an “explosion” of new wind and solar schemes across the country, as well as the extension of existing projects. The move comes despite a Tory manifesto promise to halt the spread of onshore wind farms and “end any new public subsidy for them” after a rebellion by 100 MPs concerned about the impact of turbines on residents, and the subsidies driving their construction.
In 2017 the Treasury issued a moratorium on any new renewable energy subsidies until 2025.
Last night Chris Heaton-Harris, the former minister who led a backbench revolt over the issue before joining the Government, said: “We need to invest in research and development for new technologies, not continue to bankroll old, matured industries.”
The new scheme, the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) was announced by ministers last week. Officials said it would see homeowners and “green businesses” with solar panels and wind turbines paid for the “excess” energy exported to the National Grid.
But a new analysis shows that it would also allow energy firms to guarantee themselves potentially lucrative payments for solar and wind energy. A briefing note written by Dr John Constable, energy editor of the Global Warming Policy Forum highlights the Government’s claim that the new scheme would encourage “small-scale generation”. Officials said it would be “available to technologies up to a capacity of 5 megawatts”.
But the paper states: “5MW is sufficient for 20 acres of ground-mounted solar panels, or two wind turbines of 150m in overall height, and in fact it is such far-from-micro generators that are the most probable beneficiaries of this scheme.
“Examination of the Government’s detailed proposals shows that the SEG is designed to establish a camouflaged backdoor route by which subsidies to onshore wind and to ground-mounted solar can be restored.
“This contravenes the Treasury’s ruling that there should be a moratorium on new subsidies for the sector until the total consumer cost starts to fall, which is not expected until the mid to later 2020s.”
Launching the scheme last week, Chris Skidmore, the Energy Minister, said it would “ensure households that choose to become green energy generators will be guaranteed a payment for electricity supplied to the grid”.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “As we move towards a subsidy-free energy system and a net zero emissions economy, the Smart Export Guarantee will place a legal obligation on energy suppliers to ensure small energy generators receive a payment for green energy that is exported back to the grid, without adding to consumer bills.”