The debate on feed-in tariffs (FITs) in the UK is set to continue after the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate change (DECC), as expected, filed an appeal to overturn a recent court ruling on renewable energy subsidies.
The government wants to reduce the amount of financial support given to solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in the UK in order to reduce the pressure on its budget.
It is appealing against a decision made by the Court of Appeal in January that said that plans to halve FITs for PV installations were unlawful.
“We respectfully disagree with the Court of Appeal’s decision on Feed-in Tariffs and we have today lodged an application with the Supreme Court seeking that court’s permission to appeal. We are now awaiting a decision of the Supreme Court on permission,” said a DECC spokesperson.
The Court of Appeal’s decision in January upheld an earlier ruling by the UK’s High Court on a case brought by Solarcentury, Friends of the Earth and HomeSun. They believe that the government’s plans to cut solar FITs would harm the UK’s growing solar industry, and argued that the plans were premature and unplanned and did not give the solar industry enough time to adjust.
The government believes that cutting FITs is necessary for the long-term future of the solar sector. “We want to see the available funding spread as far and wide as possible making FITs a scheme for the many not a scheme for the few, supporting sustainable jobs in solar and in a whole range of small scale renewables,” said the DECC in a statement.
