The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced that it will not be consulting on action to address FIT degression for small scale AD. This goes against previous statements including the letter received from the Minister before Christmas. ADBA, the REA and industry colleagues have been pushing hard for a tariff review because FIT degression has caused unintended consequences for small mid scale biogas projects, including on farm plants.

Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive, ADBA, said:

“It is deeply disappointing that DECC have not been able to follow through on their commitment to ‘consult on measures, including a tariff review, in January [2014]’, and this decision appears contrary to the government’s stated support for small scale AD on farms in particular.

“Smaller scale AD has a range of environmental benefits on top of generating electricity, including encouraging better manure management on farms and reducing the use of artificial fertilisers. A range of UK businesses are also in the process of developing technology and expertise which will be lost without the early-stage support which the current FIT level provides.

“The highest tariff degressions were designed to deal with ‘runaway’ deployment, but are hitting smaller scale AD despite just five sub 250kW plants coming online in 2013. This clearly goes against the spirit and intention of the policy, which will be hard to swallow for farmers, developers and their employees.

“The window to save small AD is getting smaller but is not yet closed, as there are a number of plants already in construction. We welcome DECC’s commitment to continue to work to support the sector. If ministers are serious about keeping small scale AD alive, realising sustainable rural growth and delivering the recommendations of the Ecosystem Markets Task Force and the Agri-Tech Strategy, they will recognise that a stable FIT regime is central to the industry’s growth.”