LONDON: It is a move that will save British taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds per year in the future. But it will probably lead to a protracted legal battle as industry leaders are not amused about the initiative.
Britain would scrap all new subsidies for onshore wind farms from April 1, 2016, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said Thursday. By doing so, the government would close the Renewable Obligation (RO) support scheme for new onshore wind farms earlier than expected, it added.
Under the RO, onshore wind projects built before March 2017 would have automatically received funding, but the scheme will now close a year early.
More than once in the past, the UK’s renewable energy industry had warned the Government’s new Climate Secretary Amber Rudd that she would face a legal challenge if she was going to cut subsidies earlier than planned. The industry body Renewable UK called it a “wilful destruction” of the industry by retrospectively curtailing subsidies.
