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The Big Debate: Sustainable energy

The Government’s recent review of the Feed in Tariff (FIT) was always likely to be one of the dominant topics of the debate.

When the last Government first announced the FIT scheme last year, a solar ‘gold rush’ was widely predicted in Cornwall, with companies keen to capitalise on the huge financial incentives involved and take advantage of the best natural light conditions in the UK.

Whether it just underestimated the take up, or was just an unfortunate victim of the spending review, the Government effectively whipped the rug from under the feet of many business plans, by slashing the tariff for larger projects installed after August 1 by over 70%.

Tim German, renewable energy and partnerships manager at Cornwall Council, conceded that the Council saw the FIT as a huge economic opportunity, not just for the solar industry in Cornwall, but for itself as well.

At a time when the Council was having to make deep public spending cuts, it was planning a 5mw installation of its own in Newquay.

“Literally hundreds of sites were being looked at,” said German. “30 applications had been granted in Cornwall with many more in pipeline.

“As a Council we didn’t want people coming in on a hit run exercise, we wanted to use local jobs and skills as much as possible, and get local supply chain activity going here as well. People who have already invested a lot of time and money are going to be very badly affected by this.”

German said that the Council had “immediate discussions” with the Government about the review. “But they stuck to their guns,” he said, “and now the top level has been reduced from 5mw to 50kw – a huge difference.”

Andrew Honey, founder of Torpointbased renewable energy supplier and installation company Microgeneration, expressed his unhappiness with how the ‘consultation process’ for the review had been carried out. And he pointed to Germany being a model example of how a renewable energy policy should be managed.

Energy Firms Bring Hopes of Thousands of Wind Jobs | Climate News

Two more multinational energy giants – French firm Alstom and Spain-based Gamesa – have confirmed they are actively considering sites along the east coast of Britain to base huge new factories for the manufacture of the 400ft offshore turbines that will form a key part of the country’s coming green energy revolution.

They join American giant General Electric, which is still considering location options after announcing plans for a £100m UK plant last year, and German technology firm Siemens, which has already pencilled in the port of Hull as the most likely destination for its own turbine manufacturing factory.

Their expansion is being driven by Government-led proposals for a massive expansion of the UK’s offshore wind capability, including the construction of two of the world’s largest wind farms off the Yorkshire and north-east coast at Hornsea and Dogger Bank.

With thousands of new turbines needed as Britain moves to a low carbon economy, manufacturers want to site new factories as close to the offshore sites as possible to keep costs down.

Regional planners believe if a cluster of manufacturers can be convinced they should build around the Humber ports, up to 10,000 new jobs could potentially be created, both directly and along the supply chain.

The Yorkshire Post launched its Powering Yorkshire’s Future campaign last year, calling on the Government, planners and private enterprise to do all they can to bring the new investment to this region.

The recent announcements by Alstom and Gamesa further up the stakes as Yorkshire battles with other ports which are equally keen to revive their own manufacturing bases.

A spokeswoman for Alstom said: “Alstom has plans to establish an industrial cluster in the UK, and is in discussion with a number of ports along the north-east coast. This will support the manufacturing of Alstom’s six megawatt offshore wind turbine, with design features optimised for North Sea conditions.

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