Subsidy still open to onshore wind as closure date passes

A subsidy scheme for onshore wind projects has remained open beyond its planned closure date at the beginning of this month, thanks to the slow passage of the Energy Bill through Parliament.

The Renewables Obligation was due to close to onshore wind on April 1, following the government’s controversial decision to pull the scheme last summer. However, the Energy Bill, which contains the legislation, is still working its way through Parliament.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) said the provisions would come into force from the date of royal assent, expected by the end of this parliamentary session in May.

The spokesman pledged that the government would not back-date the provisions. Shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead told Utility Week that it could face a legal challenge were it to do so.

The Decc spokesman insisted the programme’s late start was unlikely to affect which projects would be accredited: “Given the timescales for construction and commissioning, projects have to plan ahead so we wouldn’t anticipate projects being able to deploy that hadn’t already been aiming to accredit by 31 March 2016 or expecting to meet the grace period criteria,” he told Utility Week.

“These projects are already included in our estimates of deployment. Therefore, we anticipate that there will be no additional deployment beyond what we have previously estimated.”