New UK Feed-In Tariff
The UK Government announced on the 16th July 2009 the details of the
proposed feed-in tariff for microgeneration from systems like solar
photovoltaics and small wind turbines. The new tariff will pay for all
energy generated by your system, irrespective of if you use it yourself
or sell it back to the grid. The amounts paid are in addition to any
saving you will make by purchasing less electricity from your supplier
and any income you earn from selling your surplus power to your electricty
supplier.
The key points of the announcement are:
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36.5p/kWh for small solar photovoltaic systems up to 4kW and 28p/kWh for systems up to 10kW
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23.0p/kWh for small wind turbines between 1.5kW and 15kW
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Replaces the current ROC system which pays 10p/kWh
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Effective as of the 1st April 2010, but all systems commissioned from now on will qualify
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Systems installed from now until April 2010 will be eligible for both LCBP grants AND the new tariff
A home solar photovoltaic system of 3kW, generating approximately 2,300kWh per annum will therefore earn around £1,000 per annum, which is an additional £600, dramatically reducing payback times.
A small wind turbine installed at a modestly windy site could earn £6,000 - £9,000 per annum which is an additional £3,000, making it a very economic proposition with likely payback times of less than 5 years on a typical site.
| Proposed UK Feed-in Tariff Levels Technology------------------Scale--------------Proposed initial tariff (p/kWh) Anaerobic digestion --------Electricity only-----------9 Anaerobic digestion---------CHP-----------------------11.5 Biomass----------------------<50kW-------------------9 Biomass----------------------50kW-5MW--------------4.5 Biomass----------------------CHP-----------------------9 Hydro------------------------<10kW--------------------17.0 Hydro------------------------10–100kW-----------------12.0 Hydro------------------------100kW–1MW-------------8.5 Hydro------------------------1-5MW--------------------4.5 PV---------------------------<4kW (new build)--------31.0 PV---------------------------<4kW (retrofit)-----------36.5 PV----------------------------4-10kW-------------------31.0 PV----------------------------10–100kW----------------28.0 PV----------------------------100kW–5MW-------------26.0 PV----------------------------Stand alone system-----26.0 Wind-------------------------<1.5kW-------------------30.5 Wind-------------------------1.5–15kW----------------23.0 Wind-------------------------15–50kW-----------------20.5 Wind-------------------------50–250kW----------------18.0 Wind-------------------------250–500kW--------------16.0 Wind-------------------------500kW–5MW-------------4.5 |