#Fair4Solar Coalition – fair export tariff must be maintained
16-Oct-2018

Summary: The shock waves from Government’s recent announcement that it will end the ‘export tariff’ – a fair payment for surplus solar power spilled to the grid – go far beyond the solar industry. Solar homes & community buildings risk becoming the only generators not paid to put clean power on our electricity system. This flies in the face of new EU laws and is already destabilising the fragile solar industry and the nascent smart energy sector.
The solar industry is braced for a severe impact to its viability when the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) ends next March, with 30- 40% of firms already contemplating closure. The additional removal of the export tariff will cause profound damage and not only to the solar and storage industries; diverse stakeholders in clean energy at the local level will be disempowered from engaging in the clean energy transition at a time when the UK urgently needs to meet its carbon targets & to undergo a smart energy revolution. This transition puts unprecedented emphasis on local clean energy investment as heat and transport electrify.
The export tariff must therefore be safeguarded, in line with new EU laws & basic consumer rights, and BEIS needs to confirm as soon as possible that it will continue.