Lark Energy Responds to the Feed in Tariff Review

Lark Energy is very disappointed with the timing and nature of the fast track Feed in Tariff review announced by the government on 7th February 2011.  Whilst a comprehensive review had always been expected, and a need for a rebalancing of tariff level widely acknowledged, the launch of a fast track review into all PV over 50kW is potentially very damaging to the sector. As a result, many of these projects, including a large number of community projects, are now unlikely to go ahead.

Lark Energy remains fully committed to developing solar projects, many of which we highlighted to the Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker when he visited the Larkfleet Group on 3rd February. We emphasised to the Minister how vital it is for the UK to continue to develop local, decentralised energy such as solar as part of the overall energy mix.  This is particularly important in the light of current political instabilities in the Middle East and concerns over nuclear power. 

After 10 months of the UK Feed in Tariff, the solar industry is already a success story.  21,000 installations, 19,000 jobs and a sector still growing tells its own story. However, large installations take time to plan and finance which is why no solar farms have yet been constructed in the UK and few large commercial roof top schemes completed.  The UK needs solar both large and small to make its contribution to the challenging renewable energy targets.  

The primarty legislation underpinning the Feed in Tariff categorically states that all schemes below 5MW are considered small-scale microgeneration projects. The fast track review has ignored this and defined all projects above 50kW as large scale.  This encompasses a huge range of projects from small scale community schemes to solar farms.  It includes most commercial roof schemes. The review has caused huge uncertainty, not least with the funders required to finance larger schemes, and casts a shadow over the whole industry.

Lark Energy will be working with the Renewable Energy Association and fellow solar companies to mount a robust response to the review.  In the meantime, we are continuing to develop our solar farms and rooftops, both large and small and look forward to being able to develop further renewable energy projects.  

A letter from Lark Energy's Managing Director, Jonathan Selwyn, which was published in the Independent on 11th February is reproduced below.

Green promise betrayed

This was to be the greenest ever government. A large number of UK companies, ours included, believed the hype and began making plans for growth at a time of economic downturn.

Unfortunately, the reality is different. The Government has launched an urgent review of the feed-in tariff, a central plank of its renewable-energy strategy. The reason is not the failure of the scheme but bizarrely that it might actually be too successful. In particular, forecasts for the solar photo-voltaics sector had suggested significant inward investment and the creation of up to 19,000 new jobs this year.

It seems that the prospect of companies, particularly those from abroad, making money from such growth has spooked the Government. While companies in long-established sectors such as oil, gas, nuclear and water are generally foreign-owned and regularly make windfall profits, it is clear that this cannot be allowed in the solar sector.

The irony is that solar is one of the few energy technologies that can be rolled out quickly at scale, whose costs are coming down, and which generally has the support of the public.

The review will create a great deal of uncertainty among investors and companies looking to deploy the technologies at just the time when the sector was poised for take-off. It is indeed a strange way to encourage the private sector to grow us out of recession.

Jonathan Selwyn, Managing Director, Lark Energy, Bourne, Lincolnshire