PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR MP TO ASK FOR INCENTIVES FOR ONSHORE WIND POWER TO BE MAINTAINED AT THEIR CURRENT LEVELS RATHER THAN SPENT ON NULCEAR POWER
The Renewables Obligation is the system that currently funds renewable development through renewable developers being able to sell 'renewable obligation certificates' (ROCs) to the electricity suppliers who have to achieve an increasing obligation to supply renewable energy, or pay a penalty. It is the electricity consumers who effectively pay a levy to support this of course. But the Government is under pressure from its own backbenchers who do not want the windfarms in their constituencies, and so a good way of stopping the windfarms is to cut the subsidies.
This has nothing to do with costs, or efficiency, as the Government claim - since onshore wind on even the less windy sites is still very cost-effective (and likely to receive much less subsidy than will be given to nuclear power in various forms). It is to do with meeting demands of anti-wind farm groups who do not want the landscape to be graced by the sight of windfarms. Also, by coincidence, of course, cutting subsidies for windfarms will enable such subsidies to be transferred to nuclear power from 2017.
The Government is considering cutting the number of ROCs that are awarded to onshore windpower. Currently it is 1 ROC per MWh generated. The Government is considering cutting this to 0.75 ROCs or even 0.5 ROCs. Community wind power schemes tend to be established on the lower wind power sites and thus will be the most likely to be the schemes that are prevented from going forward.
In addition to this the Government proposals for a 'contract for differences' feed-in tariff (to be introduced from 2017) are likely to mean that independent generators will receive at least 30 per cent less income per unit generated than the stated feed-in tariff rate, the bulk of this money going to the major electricity suppliers. See the recent post on this blog about this 'Give feed-in tariffs to renewable energy not electricity suppliers!' (August 1st).
You can see information about Community Windfarms projects in the UK from the following websites: