Press release

New govt stats reveal huge uptake of solar schemes

27 October 2011

Commenting on new Government figures released today (Thursday 27 October 2011) revealing a huge uptake of incentives for small-scale green energy generation over the last three months, Friends of the Earth energy campaigner Paul Steedman said:

"These figures prove there's huge demand for home-grown clean power - but the scheme is threatened with the Treasury's axe, putting thousands of jobs at stake.

"Tariff rates should fall at the same rate as technology costs to keep households and businesses investing.

"Consumers who are struggling to pay bills need a better deal - we're calling on Ministers to support clean British energy providers and break the Big Six's grip on our broken energy system."

ENDS

1.            Friends of the Earth's Final Demand campaign, launched earlier this month, says clean energy is the only way to stabilise bills in the long run and is calling on David Cameron to take urgent action to stop killing off clean British energy providers and break the stranglehold of the Big Six energy companies. For more information see www.foe.co.uk/finaldemand.

2.            Energy Minister Greg Barker addressed businesses at the Solar Power UK Conference today, giving his support for the feed-in tariff.

3.            The feed-in tariff [FIT] scheme pays households, businesses, councils, hospitals and schools to create clean power through systems like solar panels. It has been hugely successful to date, with the creation of 80,000 new solar installations and 22,000 new jobs over the last two years.  

4.            Today's figures show that in the last three months the total take up of FITs (316MW) was almost double that of the previous quarter (164 MW), and over 20 times that of the first quarter (15.2MW). Most of the increase is due to a huge increase in demand for solar PV.

5.            With a comprehensive review of the entire FIT scheme expected in the next few days, Friends of the Earth is warning that deep cuts to the solar feed-in tariff could kill off fledging businesses, whilst providing less cash-back to households. Friends of the Earth says payments to people generating their own solar power should only be cut in line with falling costs of solar technology - while overall ambition for the feed-in tariff scheme should be increased, to allow more people to participate and protect jobs.

6.            Friends of the Earth research shows that a green energy revolution is needed to stabilise energy bills in the long run.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust