TSP’s Mary Anne Fedeyko, Head of the Corporate and Commercial Team, comments on the news that onshore wind farms will be excluded from a subsidy scheme.
The government has announced that it intends to end the onshore wind farm subsidies – Renewables Obligation (RO) – from 1st April 2016. This has come as a surprise within the industry, given that the coalition government had promised the RO would be available for new onshore wind projects until March 2017.
There may be a grace period for projects that already have planning permission, a grid connection and land rights, but inevitably projects that are reliant on the subsidy and have not yet got planning permission and the other rights in place will be at risk.
The government has defended its decision on the basis that they want to help technologies “stand on their own two feet” – but industry operators have warned that this will lead to the loss of thousands of jobs and millions of pounds in investment; the proposal can only lead to a lack of confidence by investors.
For more information on this and how the Commercial Team can help you, contact Mary Anne on 01206 217049 or by email on maryanne.fedeyko@tsplegal.com
