Ivan Lucas of UK renewable energy equipment suppliers Navitron explains to ClickGreen why he's happy to see the back of the government's Low Carbon Building Programme.
“The announcement of the government's Low Carbon Building Programme (LCBP) grant scheme with immediate effect - terminating grant applications for all types of renewable energy installation, comes as no surprise in the wake of recent political change - especially, given that grants for electricity-generating renewable technologies were terminated at the beginning of February.
“However, the early termination of ALL renewable energy grants will significantly reduce consumer confidence, especially without a cast-iron guarantee that the RHI (Renewable Heat Incentives) will go ahead as proposed, in April 2011.
“Here at Navitron Ltd, we're all glad to see the back of the UK grant scheme, which over the last six years has done nothing to reduce the cost of installations.
“Despite being a major supplier, less than 1% of the equipment supplied by Navitron over the last 6 years has been used for grant-aided installations.
“The reason that so few installers bother with the UK grant scheme is that the additional costs and paperwork incurred by installers registering for the grant scheme, has led them to simply surcharge installations by the value of grant.
“In fact, the vast majority of installers have boycotted the scheme altogether, safe in the knowledge that they were able to install equivalent systems to the same standard at equivalent or lower prices.
“With luck, the new government will also see the benefit in cutting the excessive bureaucracy involved in the MCS scheme, and replace it by something simpler and less costly.
“By relying on existing legislation, such as building control, electrical regulations, etc, the government could cut their own costs substantially, and by making it far less costly to the installer, the savings passed on to end-users, encouraging more rapid uptake. At the same time, fewer installers will leave the industry, and hence more installers paying taxes.”
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