One of the UK’s leaders in renewable energy has warned the Government faces another crisis in the sector if it fails to meet its October deadline for new wind power subsidy cuts.
Myriad CEG issued its warning following the announcement that the July 1 deadline for solar PV Feed-in Tariff reductions is now being extended.
The move follows a large drop in PV installation figures across the UK and months over uncertainty over the future of solar power following the announcement of the review into subsidies.
Myriad says uncertainty over the cuts has harmed the industry and the latest news, while welcome, highlights the government’s continuing “lack of consistency” when it comes to green energy.
Phil McVan, managing director of Myriad CEG Wind, the UK’s largest supplier and installer of green energy equipment, warns that the wind turbine sector could be greatly damaged by Government failure to meet the October FiT deadline.
He said: “We welcome the news of the solar FiT delay and its commercial benefits.
“However, serious question remains, how are businesses supposed to plan, manage and grow in this climate of continual Government change and uncertainty?
“It hugely affects the confidence of businesses and their clients; we seem to be in a continual state of confusion.
“What is needed is a period of certainty to allow businesses to plan and deliver whilst restoring the confidence of customers who in uncertain times ‘sit on their hands’.
“Given the Government’s recent pattern of performance in PV, we also have grave concerns about what is likely to happen with the Wind Turbine sector and the growing uncertainty that is developing.
“We are rapidly running out of time for the Government to meet its October 1, 2012 deadline.
“If it is unable to hit that we need to see an early announcement, to avoid an increasing concern that failure to hit the deadline will create similar mayhem to that we have seen in the Solar PV sector, which resulted in the loss of 24,000 jobs.
“Potential customers will delay their decisions on investment, businesses will be unable to plan and execute meaningful strategies to grow the sector.
“That will cause great harm yet again, at a time when Britain needs a strong focused renewable sector delivering jobs and energy.”
Post a comment