Overall verdict: Some Welcome Improvements
We help our customers transform their domestic or business energy supply from a cost to an income by claiming the new renewable energy tariffs.
Higher Tariff Levels
Some of the proposed tariff levels have been raised, especially for systems at the household scale. The tariff for small scale PV has been raised from 36.5 to 41.3 p/kWh, and there have similarly been increases for small-scale hydro and wind.
The full list of tariffs is shown below. The tariffs for micro-CHP have also been included. Unfortunately biomass tariffs have now been omitted so biomass power generation will now be rewarded only under the Renewables Obligation.
The government says that while the tariff levels are designed to give a return of up to 8%, the benefit of index linking (see below) may take this up towards 10%. Private customers have the added benefit of the income tax exemption.
Index Linkage
The generation tariffs are to be index-linked to the retail price index, as we had proposed, and so will the export tariff.
Export Tariff
The price floor for exports has been reduced to 3p/kWh. However the ability to opt out of this 'minimum level' and negotiate prices with energy suppliers is now no longer a one-off choice - you can decide annually. We will therefore add export price reviews to our tariff management service.
Existing Systems
Sadly these remain ineligible, except those transferring from the Renewables Obligation (at the fixed rate of 9p/kWh). The government has also ruled out refurbished and re-commissioned systems from being eligible. See their 'rationale' at the bottom of this page.
Digression
As we suggested, the government has deferred the start of digression until year three (as shown in the table below. They have also made it clearer. We reconfirm that the tariff you get is fixed at the time the system is installed and then adjusted only for inflation. It's only systems installed in future years which get a lower tariff.
Energy |
Scale |
Generation Tariff (p/kWh) |
Duration |
||
|
Source |
and type |
Apr 2010 - Mar 11 |
Apr 2011 - Mar 12 |
Apr 2012 - Mar 13 |
Years |
|
ADB |
≤500kW |
11.5 |
11.5 |
11.5 |
20 |
|
ADB |
>500kW |
9.0 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
20 |
|
Hydro |
≤15 kW |
19.9 |
19.9 |
19.9 |
20 |
|
Hydro |
>15 - 100kW |
17.8 |
17.8 |
17.8 |
20 |
|
Hydro |
>100kW - 2MW |
11.0 |
11.0 |
11.0 |
20 |
|
Hydro |
>2kW - 5MW |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
20 |
|
Micro-CHPC |
<2 kW |
10.0 |
10.0 |
10.0 |
10 |
|
Solar PV |
≤4 kW newD |
36.1 |
36.1 |
36.1 |
25 |
|
Solar PV |
≤4 kW retrofitD |
41.3 |
41.3 |
37.8 |
25 |
|
Solar PV |
>4-10kW |
36.1 |
36.1 |
33.0 |
25 |
|
Solar PV |
>10 - 100kW |
31.4 |
31.4 |
28.7 |
25 |
|
Solar PV |
>100kW - 5MW |
29.3 |
29.3 |
26.8 |
25 |
|
Solar PV |
StandaloneD |
29.3 |
29.3 |
26.8 |
25 |
|
Wind |
≤1.5kW |
34.5 |
34.5 |
32.6 |
20 |
|
Wind |
>1.5 - 15kW |
26.7 |
26.7 |
25.5 |
20 |
|
Wind |
>15 - 100kW |
24.1 |
24.1 |
23.0 |
20 |
|
Wind |
>100 - 500kW |
18.8 |
18.8 |
18.8 |
20 |
|
Wind |
>500kW - 1.5MW |
9.4 |
9.4 |
9.4 |
20 |
|
Wind |
>1.5MW - 5MW |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
20 |
|
Existing generators transferred from the Renewables Obligation |
9.0 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
to 2027 |
|
|
Notes: A These tariffs are index-linked for inflation B Anaerobic digestion C This tariff is available only for 30,000 micro-CHP installations, subject to a review when 12,000 units have been installed D See indicative definitions below | |||||
