Out-Law News

Other renewable energy sources needed to pick up slack from onshore wind, says researcher


Other renewable energy sources are needed if the UK is to meet its targets on renewable energy, after the UK government's decision to scrap subsidies for onshore wind power a year earlier than planned, construction industry data provider Barbour ABI said this week. 

Planning applications have been received for 388 new onshore wind farms, worth £6.4bn. The top ten biggest on-shore wind projects under threat from the subsidiary cuts are worth a total of £2.6bn, according to Barbour ABI figures.

Last week's decision by the UK government is likely to have an impact on many of these, Barbour ABI said.

Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI said: "Renewable energy currently produces 5% of the UK’s energy and needs to produce 30% by 2020 to reach government targets. The money saved from on-shore wind farm subsidiary cuts must be outputted into other efficient renewable energy providers if the target is to become a realistic goal." 

"In 2014 a record amount of solar power projects worth over a total of £1.7 billion were awarded. Also last year 611 solar power farms with values over £100,000 were submitted in 2014, compared to only three in 2010," Dall said.

"There is a wide spread of renewable energy providers and the government must feel confident that there is enough on-shore wind turbines currently active to start focusing more in other areas of renewable energy, such as wave power and hydropower," he said.

Last week energy secretary Amber Rudd said that around 250 planned onshore wind projects across the UK are unlikely to go ahead as a result of the subsidy changes.

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