On 11 August the Scottish Government published its consultation paper on changes to the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order 2009. The changes affect five areas, as follows:
Structural Changes
- Extend the life-time of the RO to at least 2037.
- Introduce a 20-year limit on support under the RO.
- Remove the 20 ROC/100 MWh renewable electricity limit in the RO.
- Retain the existing fixed targets until 2015/16, with headroom only after that date.
- Increase the level of headroom from 8% to 10%.
Offshore Wind
A temporary uplift in support for offshore wind technology to reflect rising costs in this sector, but with the uplift falling back again in anticipation that costs will come down in the near future.
Feed-In Tariffs
The introduction of Feed-in Tariffs, which provide a simpler mechanism than ROs, under which producers of energy from microgeneration who feed excess electricity into the national grid will receive a payment for that supply.
Biomass And Sustainability
Views are sought on whether there are any particular Scottish issues here.
Obligation Levels And Technical Issues
Following the introduction of banding and the switch to an obligation to supply a particular number of ROCs rather than electricity, views are sought on how, when and by whom the level of the obligation is to be estimated and calculated.
The consultation paper can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/08/07092158/0 and responses are required by 29 October 2009.
Disclaimer
The material contained in this article is of the nature of general comment only and does not give advice on any particular matter. Recipients should not act on the basis of the information in this e-update without taking appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.
