Back to newsroom

Daily Telegraph: Wind farms and biomass plants to keep key Government subsidies

21/10/2011

Developers of offshore wind and biomass plants expressed relief after the Government said it would maintain their subsidies.

Ministers have been reviewing renewable obligation certificates (ROCs), which are worth around £40 per megawatt-hour on top of the £55 price of electricity.

Offshore wind farms and solar installations will still receive the same support of two ROCs, although financial support will decrease gradually from 2015.

But onshore wind will see a small cut to 0.9 ROCs, which could kill off around a fifth of projects. Wave and tidal power benefited most from the review, as subsidies more than doubled to five ROCs.

Drax's share price rose 10pc to 529.87p after the Government said it would give support of one ROC to "co-firing" biomass alongside coal. It will still be difficult for Drax to build dedicated biomass plants on the current subsidies. Landfill gas and energy-from-waste projects saw their subsidies cut.

Amid mixed support for the renewables industries, critics said constantly changing policies undermined the Coalition's green credentials. Andrew Horstead, of Utilyx, said: "What they don't want is policy U-turns, which is exactly what we have got."