Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates has written to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne MP, to call for Feed-in-Tariffs to be protected to retain confidence in renewable energy investment in Wales.
Concerns have been raised recently that the Feed-in-Tariff may be subject to review by the Treasury. A report* published by Friends of the Earth on September 21st, produced by the consultancy group Arup, highlights that although some technologies such as anaerobic digestion are still not commercially viable under the current Feed-in-Tariffs, it could ‘seriously damage investor confidence’ to amend the tariff levels before the end of the previously announced review period in 2013.
Commenting, Mr Bates states:
“The Feed-in-Tariff was understood to be set until March 2013, which gave companies and householders the confidence to invest. I am very concerned that any change to the Feed-in-Tariff would be deeply damaging and would undermine future confidence in renewable energy investment, which would have a detrimental impact on the future for green jobs in the UK.
“The Feed-in-Tariff has immense potential to increase the uptake of renewable energy in Wales. I have written to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne MP, to urge that his department takes every action possible to protect the current Feed-in-Tariffs, as well as the new policy allowing councils to sell renewable electricity and receive FiT payments, from the upcoming Treasury cutbacks.”
