Proposed changes to the system of financial incentives for homeowners and businesses may make it a more financially viable proposition for your business.  The UK Government has announced the proposed launch of a Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme from April 2010. Feed-inTariffs pay the owners of renewable energy systems a fixed, guaranteed price for every kWh (unit) of energy generated.

FITs are designed to encourage the production of renewable energy by making it more financially attractive for homeowners and businesses to install their own generating systems. For systems under 50kW, FITs will completely replace the current system of Renewable Obligations Certificates (ROCs).

FITs have been operation in Europe (notably Germany and Spain) for a number of years and their introduction here greatly increases the economic viability or 'payback' of on-site microgeneration systems.

Eligible Technologies
Wind; solar PV; hydro; anaerobic digestion; biomass and biomass combined heat and power (CHP) and non-renewable micro CHP systems installed after 15th July 2009 will qualify for FITs or the similar Renewable Heat Incentives. Renewable Heat Incentives (RHIs) are aimed at renewable heat installations of all sizes, and will be implemented by April 2011

Tariffs
The proposed price paid per kWh is fixed and guaranteed, but does vary depending on the technology and the size of the system. In line with international best practice, the proposed tariff levels for new projects will decrease by predetermined rates each year ("degression").

For more information go to www.fitariffs.co.uk

(This information has been adapted from the SEGEN Newsletter Aug 09 (http://www.segen.co.uk/downloads/EnergizeAugust2009.pdf)