The decision over the summer to bring an early end to the Renewables Obligation for onshore wind and solar resulted in widespread criticism from the industry, as did the recent reduction to Feed-in Tariffs rates.
Speaking at the Scottish Renewables conference in Edinburgh Maf Smith said: “We have to acknowledge that in closing the renewables obligation the government is acting on a manifesto commitment.”
He said the renewables sector needed to accept the government’s decisions and “get with the programme”. Smith called on the industry to “start engaging more about what happens next” and find an answer to the question “what does a world without subsidies look like?”
He said all the government could hear in the current debate was, “can we have some more money please?”
Speaking earlier at the conference, the editor of EY’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index Klair White said that without government support through subsidy-free Contracts for Difference the next three to five years will be “pretty bleak” for onshore wind and solar.