A proposed review of the level of support for large-scale solar is purely political and has no economic basis, according to the head of a major UK project developer.
In an outspoken attack on the expected review of the Renewables Obligation programme, news of which emerged yesterday, Nick Boyle, CEO of Lightsource Renewable Energy said when considering the figures involved in the deal given to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, cutting solar support had no economic basis.
Boyle also said that unlike previous cuts to support, that fell in line with falling technology costs, it was hard to find the justification for a review at this stage.
“All of the other cuts were for a real reason; this cut scares me because there is no reason for it,” he said at the Large Scale Solar UK Conference at Kelham Hall in Nottinghamshire.
“This is a government that is supposedly technology agnostic. We cannot rollover and let this happen. There is no reason for this cut other than the threat of UKIP winning some seats perhaps,” he added.
The large-scale sector could be a victim of its own success. A window of stable policy and falling technology costs removed significant barriers with the UK now expected to overtake Germany as Europe’s largest PV market this year.
“When I found out that the UK solar industry managed to install 1.1GW of solar in the first quarter of 2014, I had two reactions,” Boyle said.
“The first one was: oh my God, this industry is amazing – we are not a cottage industry anymore. This achievement is something that we should be proud of, not embarrassed about. My second reaction: ‘shit, the government's going to see this’.”
Boyle’s fears appear to have been well-placed.