Renewable energy early adopters "betrayed" by clean energy cashback scheme

Early adopters of onsite renewable energy technologies such as micro wind turbines and solar panels have been left feeling "betrayed" by the government, after it emerged they will be unable to access the higher rate of support available through the new feed-in tariffs.

Under the government's Clean Energy Cash Back scheme, which is to come into effect from April 1, businesses and households installing on-site renewable energy technologies will receive guaranteed payments from their energy suppliers based on how much power they generate.

However, many of those organisations and individuals that have already installed renewable energy technologies and will be forced to enter the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme will receive significantly lower tariffs than those installing new equipment.

The rules of the scheme require that all solar PV, wind, hydroelectric and anaerobic digestion technologies with a capacity of less than 50kW will have to transfer over from being supported by the Renewables Obligation (RO) support mechanism to the FIT scheme on April 1.

However, those that installed their technology and applied for support through the RO prior to 15 July 2009, the publication date of the government's draft FIT proposals, will transfer into the FIT scheme at a generation tariff of 9p/kWh. The government maintains that the 9p/kWh rate is in line with the level of income they would have received through the RO, but it is less than half the rate offered to those installing new technologies, which can top 30p/kW for some solar and wind technologies.

Firms or households that have installed technologies with between 50kW and 5MW before 15 July 2009 will have to stick with the RO scheme, while those that have installed on-site renewables since last July will have to make a one-off decision about which scheme they choose to enter.

The move has left many early adopters furious at a set of rules that will ensure those who follow their initial lead end up earning considerably more from their solar panels or wind turbines.

"We have received a large number of complaints from members who feel they have been betrayed and taken for mugs," said Dave Timms, green homes campaigner at Friends of the Earth. "They took the risk of being early adopters and the general sense is that they have been ignored."

His comments are echoed by Stuart Pocock, head of on-site renewables at the Renewable Energy Association, who said it was "unfair" that those pioneers who have already installed renewable energy technologies will not be able to get the full benefits from the FIT scheme. "The last thing the renewable energy industry needs is bad publicity at a time when people should be excited about finally getting the FIT in place," he said. "Given the bad feeling it will create and the fact we are talking about a relatively small number of people, it is a very strange decision."